


No one knew

by sylphofbreath



Series: sBurb Gamma [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Ashen Romance | Auspistice, Caliginous Romance | Kismesitude, Crockertier, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Flushed Romance| Matespritship, God Tier, Grimbark, M/M, OC, Other, Pale Romance| Moirallegience, Trolls, sburb beta, special stardust glitches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-11
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-08 02:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 68
Words: 110,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sylphofbreath/pseuds/sylphofbreath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the day Homestuck ends.<br/>You get home and open your laptop.<br/>You open the MSPA bookmark.<br/>You click to the final slide.<br/>it's a blank screen.<br/>with four words written under it.<br/>look out your window.<br/>it's raining meteors.<br/>you turn back and open the pesterlog.<br/><span class="black">i have prepared you all i can.</span><br/><span class="black">Farewell.</span><br/>and you click the sBurb link that's provided</p><p>~Discontinued~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> i've had this idea in my head ever since that post that's been going around tumblr. i hope you like it, kudos and friendly comments welcome, and also any friendly/constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> and please stick with me it may be bad at first but i PROMISE IT GETS BETTER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ACT 1

It's an average day, same old routine. Firstly i get up at 6:45 in the morning, get on the bus at 7:30, plug my headphones in my ears and shove my face in a book. Arrive at school at 8:30 then same old boring classes, although i don't mind art, that's fun. And then it's a 25 minute wait for the buses to arrive again. I sit next to my best friend on the bus, Raine, and she basically copies my position. I'm eager to get home, yet nervous at the same time, as i know once i get home i'll do my chores as usual, and then i'll get on my laptop and read the ending of Homestuck. I really don't want it to end, but who really does?

Raine doesn't read Homestuck, so when i blab on about it at school she just smiles and nods, pretending she knows what the fuck i'm on about. I have two friends over on the mainland of my home country, Australia. We met over Tumblr. and soon became friends over Facebook. Unlike Raine, William and Alec both read Homestuck, so i can talk about it with them and they'll know exactly what i'm talking about, it's about time i found somebody who reads it.

The bus arrives at my one-kilometer-long-driveway and i wave goodbye to my friend and thank the bus driver. I hitch the one-strapped bag on my shoulder and I wait for the bus to drive off before shoving the headphones in my ears once more. There's a reddish tinge in the sky today, the sun must be setting early tonight, well, it is daylight savings. I begin my fifteen minute walk home, 'Plastic Soul' and 'In My Arms' blaring in my ears.

Once i reach home i kick my boots off in the porch and dump my bag in my room, mum must be out on the farm with my older brother, and my younger brother is slouched on the couch with headphones in his ears and face firmly placed in front of his ipad AS PER USUAL. I sigh and go on the search for the two cats i have to switch over before nightfall, as there might be tom fight overnight. 

Once all my chores are done i walk to my room and shut the door so no one bothers me, and fall onto my bed and open the lid to my laptop. I open the Firefox browser and, firstly, check Tumblr. to see what's going around, and then open the MSPA bookmark. There are five new slides, i begin to read through them all. But as i get to the fourth page it concludes the comic, i'm intrigued to se what the final page is. I click the next slide and see a blank, white slide, as if it were loading something. But my cursor was not spinning like it normally would, indicating that it has indeed finished loading. There are four words under the slide.  
'Look out your window.' I furrow my eyebrows and spin around and almost scream.

It's raining meteors in the horizon.

I sit there in shock, _how did he know?_ are the words running through my head at that moment, and i turn back around to the monitor. Then i realise the pesterlog, and i click it open.  
AH: I have prepared you all I can.   
AH: I hope you were paying attention.   
AH: Farewell.   
And there’s a link, and my jaw drops when I see what the title of it is.

‘SBurb Beta.’

I open the Facebook bookmark.

Riana Hall: Alec!  
Riana Hall: Alec, have you read the update?  
Alec Meyer: no. why?  
Riana Hall: read it. Just read it.

Riana Hall: William, have you read the update.  
William Spencer: Yes.  
Riana Hall: It’s real, everything is real.  
William Spencer: we all joked about it but we never thought it would actually happen.  
Riana Hall: What do we do?  
William Spencer: I guess there’s really only one thing we CAN do.  
Riana Hall: you’re right.  
Riana Hall: hold on.

Alec Meyer: Well. We’re all going to die, there’s no doubt about it.  
Riana Hall: Click the link, I’ll be back in a sec.

Riana Hall: Raine.  
Riana Hall: you have to read the final slide of Homestuck.  
Riana Hall: your life depends on it.  
Riana Hall: and no this isn’t a sarcastic fucking joke okay?  
Riana Hall: it’s a life or death situation here.  
Riana Hall: follow these instructions:  
Riana Hall: First, type ‘Homestuck’ into Google. Click the first link. Scroll down a bit and you will see a blue list of things that look like ==>. Click the top one. And follow the prompts.  
Riana Hall: please don’t ignore this Raine.  
Raine Stasse: jeez, you really want me to read this comic, don’t you?  
Riana Hall: Raine! Thank god. No, no like I said this is a life or death situation here.  
Raine Stasse: hey, did you see the awesome sunset?  
Riana Hall: Yes I did and it was no sunset! Please Raine, just follow my instructions!  
Raine Stasse: okay okay I’m reading it.  
Riana Hall: Well?  
Riana Hall: Raine, are you still there?  
Riana Hall: Raine?  
Raine Stasse: Holy fuck!  
Raine Stasse: We’re all going to fucking die!  
Riana Hall: Raine, calm down. Click the link supplied.  
Raine Stasse: what good will that do?! We’re going to fucking die!  
Riana Hall: CLICK THE FUCKING LINK!  
Raine Stasse: Fine!  
Raine Stasse: there, now it’s loading some weird patterny circle thing.

I click the link and gasp.

Riana Hall: Cascade.  
Raine Stasse: What?  
Riana Hall: Cascade, the most important flash in Homestuck. That’s exactly what this looks like.  
Raine Stasse: right, whatever.  
Raine Stasse: but what good will this do? We’re all going to die!  
Riana Hall: hold on

William Spencer: So it’s loading Cascade?  
Riana Hall: appears so.  
William Spencer: you know, this is actually really scary, but also really exciting?  
Riana Hall: I know, right?  
Riana Hall: oh, hold on again.

Alec Meyer: So I’ve clicked the link, cascade, huh?  
Riana Hall: yep.  
Alec Meyer: this is all so… weird.  
Riana Hall: I know.  
Riana Hall: just a sec, I’ll move this to the newsfeed so all four of us can talk to each other.  
Alec Meyer: four?  
Riana Hall: I’ve got my other friend who doesn’t read Homestuck on it too, you know, so she doesn’t die.  
Riana Hall: well, we might actually all end up dying anyway so.

Riana Hall: so guys, this is it.  
Riana Hall: this is really happening.  
Alec Meyer: yep.  
William Spencer: all we have to do now is wait for it to load.  
Raine Stasse: who the hell are you guys?  
Riana Hall: Raine, remember when I told you about my two internet friends? Well, these are them.  
William Spencer: hi.  
Raine Stasse: yeah, hi. I’m Raine.  
William Spencer: I’m William, it’s nice to meet you.  
Raine Stasse: yeah, you too.  
Riana Hall: guys, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other later.  
Riana Hall: maybe.  
Alec Meyer: yeah, this is no time to be getting all friendly with each other.  
Alec Meyer: this is serious business.  
Raine Stasse: um, hey, my thing just loaded.  
Raine Stasse: it’s showing me a picture of a guy in his room.  
William Spencer: what does he look like?  
Raine Stasse: well, he has rectangular glasses, shoulder length brown hair.  
Raine Stasse: with a dinosaur on his white t-shirt  
William Spencer: dude.  
William Spencer: that’s me.  
Raine Stasse: you just waved at the camera.  
William Spencer: yep that’s definitely me oh hey look cascade just loaded.  
William Spencer: Alec I got you.  
Alec Meyer: cool  
William Spencer: Dude, I want your shirt.  
Alec Meyer: and that so totally did not sound creepy.  
William Spencer: shit, shut the fuck up. It’s cool.  
William: it’s black with a pair of glow-in-the-dark red eyes.  
Alec Meyer: how did you know they were glow in the dark?  
William: dude, you’ve got your light turned off, if you didn’t notice.  
Alec Meyer: oh.  
William Spencer: omg I want your house.  
William spencer: he has clap lights everybody.  
Riana Hall: Oh, hey, look whose thing just loaded.  
Riana Hall: Raine, I’m your server player.  
Raine Stasse: my what?  
Riana Hall: *sigh.* A server player is basically… okay, let me put it this way, you are William’s server player, you will help deploy his shit before the game.  
Raine Stasse: Deploy what? Game? Is this just a big game to you?  
Riana Hall: *sighs again.* no. sburb is literally a game that destroys the planet and kills everyone except for the people who play it. If you read Homestuck you would know all this.  
Raine Stasse: whatever.  
Alec Meyer: Guys, cascade loaded on my browser.  
Alec Meyer: dude I got you.  
Riana Hall: me?  
Alec Meyer: no the fucking snowman in winter wonderland yes you.  
Alec Meyer: dude your room is tiiiiny.  
Riana Hall: stfu  
Alec Meyer: no.  
Alec Meyer, dude, your HOUSE is tiiiny and oh shit you live on a farm?  
Riana Hall: yes.  
Alec Meyer: I did not know you were a farm girl.  
Riana Hall: I ain’t no farm girl, I may live on a farm but it doesn’t mean I go out on it.  
Alec Meyer: oh okay. w/e  
Alec Meyer: I’m going to start deploying your shit.  
Riana Hall: be careful of my brother.  
Alec Meyer: dude the only thing I’m going to deploy inside your house is the totem lathe, and that’s going where your spare bed is.

Spare bed? I don’t have a spare bed… oh he means my sisters bed. She’s down south for the year, university. I watch as the bed disappears and a _thunk_ on the roof.

Riana Hall: dude, did you just put the bed on the roof?  
Alec Meyer: yep.  
Riana Hall: how original.  
Alec Meyer: shut up.  
Raine Stasse: so what the fuck is a totem lathe?  
Riana Hall: I’ll show you later.  
Alec Meyer: okay, alchemiter is going outside in your front/backyard I got no idea what one. The one with the driveway.  
Riana Hall: the backyard.  
Riana Hall: shit, watch the dogs!

 _Yelp!_

Riana Hall: shit, which one did you hit?  
Alec Meyer: I only got it’s tail. It’s a brown one.  
Riana Hall: dude we got two chocolate labs, boy or girl.  
Alec Meyer: I dunno, but it’s thickly built?  
Riana Hall: Comet.  
Alec Meyer: nice name.  
Riana Hall: I know.  
Alec Meyer: okay so the Cruxtruder is going next to it.  
Raine Stasse: guys I’m reading this but I got no idea what the fuck you guys are on about.  
Riana Hall: I told you I’ll explain later, when I get into the medium, seeming I’m going be the first in there.  
Raine Stasse: the what?  
Riana Hall: I’ll be back.

I unplug my laptop and take it with me outside and I almost laugh at the dogs staring at the giant machines. I look around and type,

Riana Hall: Alec, drop the table onto the cruxtruder.  
Riana Hall: the shit on there isn’t important, only a few potted plants.  
Alec Meyer: on it.

I see the table magically begin to float in the air, and then it drops over the top of the cruxtruder. It flings in my direction. I run out of the way just in time for it to tumble right where I was standing.

Riana Hall: watch it!  
Alec Meyer: sorry.  
Alec Meyer: oh dude, you might want this too. 

He sits a card down next to me, and i don't have time to look at it, i just tuck it under my arm. A big, bright blue sphere begins to hover out of the barrel, it’s the same colour as John’s kernel sprite. I turn the wheel to release the totem. Holy shit, they’re bigger than I thought they were, they come up to my thigh, but are light as a feather. I hold my laptop in one arm and the totem in the other, taking note of the time on the cruxtruder: 07:34 I have seven minutes to do this, can’t be too hard. I run back inside and my brother calls my name.  
“What the hell’s going on here?” he asks and I bite my lip. 

I'm not going to be able to look after him, he'll be kidnapped by the underlings and then... I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it if he dies.

“I’m sorry.” Is all I say and run back to my room. I clamp the totem in and shove the card in the slot, and pull a lever, the process is slower than originally thought. I tap my finger against my thigh and look at my laptop screen again, then type with one hand,

Riana Hall: So I’ve got seven and a half minutes left before the meteor destroys my suburb.  
William Spencer: I’m going to start setting your stuff up now, Alec. You’ve got tonnes of room.  
Alec Meyer: cool.  
Raine Stasse: somebody really needs to tell me WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON.  
William Spencer: read act one, skip the first few tens of slides, they are basically pointless.  
Riana Hall: there’s no time for that! I. will. Explain. It. La. Ter.

The totem is now fully carved and I take it from between the clamps and run back outside, shit, now there’s only four minutes left. I shove the totem onto the small platform of the alchemiter, the big laser thing comes down and scans it. It’s getting quite hot out here, beads of sweat begin to roll down my face and I look up towards the sky. It’s red like fire, and meteors shoot across the sky, but I can see one large one heading right towards my house. I look back at the alchemiter and shout  
“Hurry UP.” There’s only two minutes left on the cruxtruder. 

Finally, FINALLY, the laser finishes scanning and a large, blue flame licks up, creating, no not an apple tree as I first thought it would be, but a large egg, which cracks open into a… dragon? But it was smaller than the egg, way smaller, small enough for me to fit my hand around. I take it and the egg shell disappears.

Alec Meyer: big ass meteor heading in your direction.  
Riana Hall: no SHIT Sherlock!  
Riana Hall: I’m not blind.  
Alec Meyer: just thought I should warn you.

I run back inside and my brother is just standing there with his ipad tucked under his arm, he’s staring out the window. My eyes search the room for something, a weapon, to give to him, then my mind clicks and I run back outside. I tuck the dragon thing under my arm and pick up a one-handed axe and run back inside.  
“Hey.” I say to him, he spins around and I can see he’s crying. I shove the back of the axe just in front of his chest and I say,  
“Take it, and never, ever let go of it.” His fingers slowly wrap around it and he hugs me. He actually hugged me. He never, _ever_ hugs me. Not once in my life has he ever embraced me. It sends me into momentary shock but I shake out of it and pat his shoulder, but then break away from him. 

I bite my lip as tears begin to flood my eyes, there’s nothing worse than knowing your brother’s going to die.  
“I’m sorry.” Is all I say and walk away from him, out the door. 

Ten seconds left, I type one last thing into my laptop. 

Riana Hall: Goodbye guys. 

I toss the dragon head on the ground and it erupts in a fit of flames... 00:01  
00:00 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This Chapter Has Been Edited*


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading the previous comment I had on this reminded me that Riana was originally going to be a Rogue of Hope. Welp, things change.

**Land of Fields and Titanium**

For a moment i blacked out, only for a quick nanosecond. I rub my head, i had a headache for a longer moment, but it was still quite swift. I take note of my surroundings, i'm not sure how but i just know it's Land of Fields and Titanium, LOFAT. My whole yard was transported (or should i say transportalized hehe) to the medium, including the shed which is about sixty meters away from my house. The entire farm was not though, and i bite my lip and tears flood my eyes as i realise at that moment.

That my mum and older brother were dead.

LOFAT is called what it is because basically all there are many, many fields of titanium. Silver rivers run through valleys, a forest borders the fields, their silver treetops reflecting the suns beams. I return to my room and replug my laptop in, funny how the house still gets power here. Power but no internet connection.  
"Shit!" i shout and slam my fist into the small, spare space on the laptop next to the mouse pad. But then it finishes loading and a banner flicks across the screen and i laugh. It's pesterchum. I click on it and click the 'sign up' tab at the top. A username, a username, hmm. A few ideas run through my head, whisperingWolves, no, implodingShadows, no that sounds too weird. Then my mind clicks and i type in 'wakingDragons' and create a password. It seems the sBurb bookmark is still available though, so i click on it and immediately check on Raine. Then i start deploying everything, her house is larger than mine but there isn't very much room outside to deploy it all, so i'll have to do it all inside. But then the pesterchum tag begins flashing and i click on it, somebody is trying to pester me?

\-- redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  began pestering wakingDragons  [WD] at ??:?? -- 

RH: nice to see you made it in okay.   
WD: How the hell did you get my chumHandle so fast?   
RH: zoomed in majorly onto your computer.   
WD: Oh okay. Now, I don't know how i'm going to be able to help Raine out if I can't talk to her.   
RH: that might be a problem.   
WD: It will be a problem for both of them, if Raine doesn't know what to do, then she can't send William into the medium.   
RH: yeah, that is a bit of a problem.   
WD: We need to think of a solution quick!   
RH: i know.   
RH: hey is it possible to actually do everything yourself?   
WD: Hey maybe.   
WD: I’m gonna try. 

I click the sBurb tab again, and set everything up, shifting things around and scoring a few shocked looks from Raine. I manage to fit everything in, only just though. My kernelsprite buzzes next to my head, oh right, I actually forgot about that. I drop a chair onto the cruxtruder and it opens, revealing a green kernel, like Jade’s, and she just stares at it. I carefully, carefully spin the small wheel, and the totem pops out. I grab it with the mouse and take it over to the totem lathe, shoving it between the clamps, then somehow manage to fit the card in the slot and click the small lever. I change the view back to the cruxtruder, nine minutes; okay this shouldn’t be too hard. I try and find something to prototype her sprite with, and find the perfect thing. I take the trophy deer head off the wall and toss it into the sprite, it flashes bright green and it turns into a 2D circle with a deer face in the middle. I should be thinking about what I’m going to prototype my own sprite with. I wait for the totem to finish carving and take it out, sitting it on the small platform of the alchemiter and wait for it to scan it. And wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. I decide to leave it and go to the cruxtruder again, three minutes left. I shift the camera outside and gasp.

The town is on fire.

I see Raine’s mum outside spraying the hose to the fire that’s starting to engulf their house. I look back at the alchemiter and Raine is staring at it, and then there’s a green flame flicking and a large wolf skeleton appears. And it’s head drops off and into Raine’s hands. She stares at it, and that’s all she does other than raises an eyebrow. The rest of the skeleton disappears and Raine’s still staring at it. Thirty seconds left. I do her mother a favour and take the small array of kitchen knives in their holder and sit it next to her, she seems to notice and picks them up, looking oddly at them By that time the timer has counted down to it’s last few seconds, and the skull in Raine’s hand disappears and the camera is engulfed in green as she’s teleported into the medium.

WD: There. I did it.   
RH: cool so shes in the medium now?   
WD: Yep   
WD: Hey can i by any chance ask what your land is?   
RH: land of shadows and catacombs bitches.   
RH: and yours is land of fields and titanium right?   
WD: Yeah, how did you know?   
RH: a server player should know all about their client player   
WD: Yeah right. Now, I'm going to go check out what Raine's chumhandle is.   
WD: If she made one at all.   
RH: you do that. 

I firstly take a look at her land, it's night and there are beams projecting from the clouds, and lasers dancing across the sky. There are also a lot of large holes in the ground, and somehow i just know it's Land of Beams and Chasms. Raine is back at her desktop swearing profusely at the monitor, no internet connection. But she clicks the banner flashing across the screen. I watch her type in 'thunderingHeavens' into the small box and type a password, then hits 'submit.' I go back to pesterchum and type in her chumhandle, clicking it.

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  began pestering thunderingHeavens [TH] at ??:?? -- 

WD: So it all worked out, huh?  
TH: um, where the hell am i?  
WD: Land of Beams and Chasms, or LOBAC for short.  
TH: how did you know that?  
WD: Because reasons.  
TH: right.  
TH: so am i like dead or something? because technically speaking that meteor should have killed me.  
WD: Shut up with your technicalities, earth logic doesn't apply in the medium. well, it does but not in the same ways.  
TH: whatever.  
TH: so what do we do now?  
WD: You need to get William here.  
TH: and how exactly do i do that?  
WD: You only really need to do two things, one, deploy all his stuff, and two, open the cruxtruder.  
TH: okay, one, deploy what? And two, the what?  
WD: *Sigh* click onto the sburb tab at the top of your computer.  
TH: done.  
WD: Now, see all that equipment at the top of the screen?  
TH: yeah.  
WD: Deploy all you can. Do whatever it takes to get them all out, if that means throwing some shit out of his house, go ahead and do it.  
TH: okay.  
TH: well that took eternity but done.   
WD: Good, now sit the card that's there next to the lathe (the carver thing). And see the thing with the large barrel thing pointing in the air?  
TH: um, i think so.  
WD: Drop something heavy on it.  
TH: you mean like, this stuffed person which is actually kind of creeping me out?  
WD: I guess so.  
TH: okay, now a sphere is floating out of it, what do i do now?  
WD: You can either sit back and relax, or you can prototype his sprite... the sphere.  
WD: By throwing something into it.  
TH: okay, that's easy.  
TH: I just, um, what did you call it? prototyped? Yeah whatever, his sphere with the same stuffed guy. he actually looks like a real corpse  
WD: Oh my god how ironic would that be?  
TH: um...  
WD: Uh, never mind.  
WD: Now just sit back, he can do the rest.  
WD: Oh, and when he joins our session, make sure to see what his chumhandle is. I can give you Alec's if you want.  
TH: um, okay?  
WD: It's redeyedHellmaker. Make sure to add him to your chums on the side, and if you haven't already, me too, which is wakingDragons.  
TH: okay, but how am i finding out what his 'chumhandle' is?  
WD: Zoom riiiiight in.  
TH: um, okay.  
WD: Well, i should get to prototyping my own sprite... SHIT. Oh shit shit shit!  
WD: I gotta go... fuck I screwed us all. Bye  
TH: um, okay. 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  ceased pestering thunderingHeavens [TH] at ??:?? -- 

Then there's a bright blue flash behind me and i spin around, i blink twice.

WD: Why the hell did you prototype my sprite with the picture of a tiger?   
RH: because it looks cool and now you have a floating talking albino tiger as a guide you should be thanking me oh yeah by the way nice going fuckface now we're all screwed because you didnt protype your sprite pre-medium.   
WD: Shut up! Don't you think I'm already panicking about that??? And no, I'm not going to thank you for prototyping my sprite with a cat.   
RH: its a tiger and youll thank me later.   
WD: What even ever. 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  ceased pestering redeyedHellmaker [RH] at ??:?? -- 

I look up at him and force a smile on my face, and say hi to my new guide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This Chapter Has Been Edited.*


	3. 3

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  opened memo on board LETSFIGURETHISSHITOUT -- 

WD: so, i found the memo thing on pesterchum.   
WD: thought it might be useful for us all to be able to talk to each other.   
WD: so, like it says in the title, lets figure this shit out.   
redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  responded to memo.   
RH: what's there to figure out?   
RH: we build up each others houses, go through the gates. Visit each others world and basically spiral around until we get to the final gate.  
friendlySubjugator  [FS]  responded to memo.   
FS: you seem to be forgetting something.   
WD: friendlySubjugator, really?   
FS: yes.   
RH: what's this thing we're missing?   
FS: oh, you know. the whole fact of: GOD. TIER.   
RH: oh right.   
thunderingHeavens  [TH]  responded to memo   
TH: the heck is god tier?   
WD: oh god.   
RH: oh jesus.   
FS: oh lord.   
TH: what? what am i missing?   
WD: i'll explain when it matters. right now all we need to focus on is HOLY FUCK THERE'S AN IMP RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW.   
FS: oh no.   
RH: oh shit.   
TH: what's an imp?   
WD: you guys explain, i'll be back. 

i ditch the laptop on my bed and run into my brothers' room, grab the only weapon i could think of (a baseball bat) and run out through the door. Before it can even look at me i slam it in the back of the head with all the force i can muster, and it tumbles forwards into the wall. It spins around and i give it another whack, it stumbles and falls down. I hit it one last time and it explodes in a mass of... grist and shale. I pick one piece up and it disappears out of my hand, i begin collecting them. But the last thing i pick up isn't grist, it's a pile of cards, five, inch thick cards and my eyes widen when i realise what they are.

"Holy shit we even get sylladexes."

I pick it up and they hover up from my hand and spread themselves out in front of me, they're all empty of course. I look at the bat in my hand and then to the first card to the left, then back to the bat. I slowly raise the hand with the bat and it flashes from my hand and into the card. Then one extra card pops up next to it, and the bat flashes from the card into the new one.  
'bat kind' it read, all the cards gather up and fall down into a small pile, shrinking until it fits into the palm of my hand. then it turns into a watch os some sort?  
"Okay." i say, rather startled.

FS: so that's basically what an imp is.   
TH: oh wow.   
WD: they're not as scary as they seem though.   
FS: oh, you're back.   
WD: yes.   
RH: so.   
WD: so what?   
RH: so what was it like beating up an imp?   
WD: strangely satisfying.   
WD: and, and guess what?   
RH: what?   
WD: grist is what. But that's not all. I. got. a. freaking. sylladex.   
RH: no way.   
WD: yes way.   
TH: do i even want to know what a sylladex is?   
FS: basically it's your personal inventory.   
WD: hey alec, do me a favor.   
RH: what.   
WD: deploy the punch designix   
RH: sure thing.   
RH: oh wait i cant you need some shale for that. WD: Oh damn, okay, I'll be back. 

Once more i put my laptop on my bed and jog outside. These underlings keep building up, there's more and more of them each minute it seems. It doesn't take long for me to bash some shale out of them, and as soon as I do, Alec deploys the punch designix. Time to alchemise some shit. I firstly look at the watch i strapped around my wrist, at has a button. I click it and the cards appear out of nowhere, i take the card with the bat and flip it over: AlbItrAc. I take the bat out of the card literally by just pulling it out, so if anymore imps come i can beat the crap out of them, then enter the code, shoving the card in, it punches several holes. I captchalogue, oh god that sounds so strange for some reason, that card and go back inside for something else i can punch. The first thing i see is my sisters book 'Nevermore' by James Patterson. I shrug, she's not going to miss it. I captchalogue it and run back outside, type in the code and punch the card, then head over to the cruxtruder. I twist the handle and a cruxite pops out, hey what the heck i might as well take a few. i captchalogue them all into one card except one, i take that and the cards over to the totem lathe.

Not before i kick another imps ass, i knew it was a good idea to take the bat beforehand. i collect the grist and shale then make my way into my room, jamming the cruxite into the clamps and the cards in the slot. It doesn't take as long to make the totem this time, only a minute. Running back out towards the alchemiter, i notice silver clouds beginning to gather in the sky, and silver droplets begin to fall. I wince every time a heavy liquid ball taps me on the head, they hurt you know. I shove the totem onto the platform and it takes barely even a moment to scan, before it makes a metal bat with wings at the handle, only about a meter wide wingspan. it's also known as 'the flightless bat.'

Well, that was completely pointless I run back inside and look for something that would be a little more practical to alchemise with. I walk to my room and dig through a bunch of stuff, i find one of my sisters many art books and flick through them. I tear out a page; a dragon in mid flight with fire erupting from its mouth, she was an excellent artist although not as crazy about dragons as i, she enjoyed drawing them. I repeat the process of typing the captcha-code, punching the card, making a totem for the new bat and the dragon picture, and making the item. Holy fuck this is the best idea ever. It creates a red metal bat with a flame on the end, and every time i swing it it releases a ball of fire, and also the wings actually flutter now. It's also known as 'the flame throwing vanquisher,' (FTV i'm calling it.)

I test it out on the imp that has popped up behind me and when the fireball hits it it bursts into a frenzy of grist and shale. I collect the grist and before i captchalogue the FTV i realise i've only got two empty cards left, i decide to do the smart thing and captchalogue an empty card and take note of the code (11111111,) taking the card back out and again repeat the process, creating a bunch of cards that i add to the deck, (as in, like, twelve more.) I then proceed to alchemise my laptop and some sunglasses i found on top of the fridge, being sure to take note of the laptop code and taking it out. I put the glasses on and writing pops up on the screen, only the writing, not the white background, so i can still see through. I go back inside so i stop getting pummeled by titanium rain.

RH: some sweet things you made yourself there.   
RH: nice job.   
WD: hey thanks   
RH: but you'd wanna make a bigger weapon than that to kill the thing that's coming.   
WD: what?   
RH: remember ?   
WD: oh. oh right. shit, i actually forgot about them.   
RH: good luck.   
WD: thanks, i think.   
TH: what are you guys talking about?   
FS: i think i know what you mean.   
FS: are the crude ogres there?   
RH: i can see them coming.   
TH: what's a crude ogre?   
FS: oh boy, alright, you know how in video games there's always and end boss?   
TH: yes.   
FS: these are kind of like that, except they pop up whenever. 

I don't even tune into the rest of the conversation because there's a thump outside the door, and i see a giant black leg. I take the FTV out of my sylladex and confront my foe. Holy shit this thing is huge. It snarls at me and i grimace, it's actually really fucking scary. I grip the handle of my bat tighter and the flame increases, i hold it above my head and wave it down like a sword, projecting a huge ass fireball right towards it. It's leg catches on fire and it stomps on the hard titanium ground, cracking it. I take a step back and run towards the step ladder mum left out whilst cleaning the gutter, climbing up it and onto the roof. I run up to the ogre's shoulder, trying not to slip on the tin roof, and begin aimlessly bashing it. It burns it pretty bad but that's about it.

RH: hey, i'll distract it. Go make this. Asd4Rgh9. I've been experimenting with all the shit in my house. for about five minutes now and i made this. Go.   
WD: what is it?   
RH: see for yourself. 

I see one of my outdoor tables go flying in the ogres direction and it knocks it back. I scramble back down the ladder and run towards the punch designix. I get to the alchemiter and create the item. It is literally a bazooka. I expend what grist i have left on combining the FTV with it, creating the 'flame vortex clouter' (FVC.) I run back around to the ogre and see that it's life meter is nearly all the way down. I slam the bat in the shin, and it creates a vortex on it, sucking the ogre into it and expelling tonnes of grist and shale and whatnot.

WD: holy fuck, how did you even create that? what even the fuck was it?   
RH: it was a black hole bazooka.   
WD: nice.   
FS: is it dead?   
WD: yes.   
FS: good.   
TH: you actually KILLED that thing? how? 

I was about to continue the conversation when the glasses flash and i furrow my eyebrows. My jaw drops to the titanium ground when i see who's trying to talk to me.

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  began trolling wakingDragons [WD] \-- 

CG: OKAY DON'T FREAK THE FUCK OUT THAT SOMEBODY NOT FROM YOUR PATHETIC HUMAN RACE IS TRYING TO SPEAK TO YOU.   
WD: holy shit, no fucking way.   
CG: I SAID *DON'T* FREAK THE FUCK OUT. GOG, DON'T YOU LISTEN?   
WD: KARKAT?   
CG: HOLY FUCK WHAT HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW MY NAME THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR FIRST CONVERSATION WITH ME.   
WD: you've got to be kidding me.   
CG: NO, REALLY, HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ME THIS IS JUST FUCKING CREEPY.   
WD: how do you even EXIST _?_ this is just so freaking crazy   
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW DO I *EXIST*? I EXISTED BEFORE YOU YOU FUCKING INGRATE.   
WD: holy mother of all fuck.   
CG: YOU'RE NOT ANSWERING MY QUESTION, HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ME?   
WD: because reasons.   
CG: WHAT THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE.   
WD: no, *this* isn't making any sense. you're supposed to be a fictional character, not a real life person. or troll.   
CG: WHOA WHAT? A FICTIONAL CHARACTER? WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? AND HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS A TROLL?   
WD: oh my god if i explained you would be so confused.   
CG: MY THINK PAN IS A LOT MORE FUCKING ADVANCED THAN YOUR OWN, SO DON'T BE SAYING I WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND IT.   
WD: just, never mind. forget i even said it.   
CG: I CAN'T JUST *FORGET* SOMETHING LIKE THAT YOU STUPID LITTLE NOOK SNIFFER.   
WD: don't ever call me that again, because that is actually gross. I have never even met a troll, let alone sniffed their freaking genitals.   
CG: WHATEVER. I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU KNOW WHO I AM. HOLY FUCK WHAT WOULD BE EVEN CREEPIER IF YOU KNEW WHAT I LOOKED LIKE. PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU KNOW WHAT I LOOK LIKE.   
WD: you mean.   
WD: something   
WD: like   
WD: this?   
wakingDragons [WD] sent carcinoGentecist [CG] the file isthiswhatyoulooklike  
CG: HOLY SHIT. DID YOU ACTUALLY LITERALLY DRAW THIS?   
WD: yes i know it's shit but get the fuck over it.   
CG: OKAY, ONE, THIS ACTUALLY ISN'T ALL THAT BAD AND TWO how the fuck do you know what i fucking look like!   
WD: don't even ask.   
CG: WHY THE FUCK NOT?   
WD: just don't. Now, getting over the fact that you are actually here talking to me IN REAL LIFE what did you want?   
CG: I'M NOT GOING TO EVEN BOTHER EXPLAINING SEEMING YOU SEEM TO KNOW ALL. SO FUCK OFF. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling wakingDragons [WD] \-- 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This Chapter Has Been Edited.* Wow I must have fucked up good to have to edit three chapters in a row. welp. Let's make it four.


	4. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did edit this but only de-capitalising the ACs.

**Land of Thunder and Frogs**

The first thing William hears when he enters the medium is a roaring crack of thunder, making his ear drums ring. He rubs his head after he removes his hands from his ears, and he takes a look at his surroundings. It's dark but small, frog shaped lanterns light a path across a river plagued landscape. He could hear a sea off in the distance, and the rattling din of croaks. He watches a frog leap away from his two storey house and towards it's armada, they all croak a greeting. William covers his ears as another thunderous crack ripples across the sky. Rain falls from the sky and glistens in the (large) moonlight. (No seriously it takes up, like, half the sky.) He walks inside, it's starting to get a bit cold outside, and the thunder is just deafening. He sits down at his computer and tries opening the internet, although he is well aware that there is no internet.

But there is a pesterchum banner.

He clicks on it and types in a username and password, friendlySubjugator, it was the first name that came to his mind so he used it. He purposefully changes his text colour to bright blue, one, because Jane was always his favourite character in Homestuck, and two it just happens to be his favourite colour. Almost immediately someone begins to pester him.

\-- thunderingHeavens  [TH]  began pestering friendlySubjugator  [FS]  at ??:?? --

TH: so hi i guess.   
FS: yes, hello.   
TH: did everything work out?   
FS: yes, it all ended in a fine conclusion.   
TH: well that's good i guess.   
FS: i would hope so.   
TH: aren't you wondering how i know what your 'chumhandle' is?   
FS: i can take a fair guess.   
TH: oh okay.   
FS: there is something i wish to ask, did you really have to prototype my dead father with the sprite?   
TH: wait that person was actually a real human being?! why would you stuff him and sit him in your lounge room?   
FS: it was my mothers idea, she loved him too much to let him go.   
TH: but, shouldn't you be happy that you basically got your father back?   
FS: not entirely, you see, me and my father never really bonded well with each other.   
TH: please, spare me your life story.   
FS: very well.   
TH: oh, by the way, if you wanted to know, riana's chumhandle is wakingDragons, and alec's is redeyedHellmaker.   
FS: thankyou, i shall add them to my list immediately.   
TH: okay, i'll talk to you later then maybe i guess. i'll go tell riana what your handle is.   
FS: do so. Goodbye for now, raine.   
TH: yeah, bye.

\-- thunderingHeavens  [TH]  ceased pestering friendlySubjugator  [FS]  at ??:?? -- 

William adds the three new chums to his list and winces as more thunder cracks outside, it's really coming down now. Not five minutes later he gets an invite to Riana's memo.

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  opened memo on board LETSFIGURETHISSHITOUT -- 

WD: so, i found the memo thing on pesterchum.   
WD: thought it might be useful for us all to be able to talk to each other.   
WD: so, like it says in the title, lets figure this shit out.   
redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  responded to memo.   
RH: what's there to figure out?   
RH: we build up each others houses, go through the gates. Visit each others world and basically spiral around until we get to the final gate.  
friendlySubjugator  [FS]  responded to memo.   
FS: you seem to be forgetting something.   
WD: friendlySubjugator, really?   
FS: yes.   
RH: what's this thing we're missing?   
FS: oh, you know. the whole fact of: GOD. TIER.   
RH: oh right.   
thunderingHeavens  [TH]  responded to memo   
TH: what on earth is god tier?   
WD: oh god.   
RH: oh jesus.   
FS: oh lord.   
TH: what? what am i missing?   
WD: i'll explain when it matters. right now all we need to focus on is HOLY FUCK THERE'S AN IMP RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW.   
FS: oh no.   
RH: oh shit.   
TH: what's an imp?   
WD: you guys explain, i'll be back.   
FS: an imp is like a demon of sorts, with a hard black carapace shell that take the form of whatever you prototype your sprite with.   
FS: when you destroy them they emit a mass of grist (which you're going to need throughout the game)  
FS: they are basically there as an obstacle throughout the game and to supply you with this grist.   
FS: they help you to reach a more advanced level by you defeating them.   
FS: there is basically no limit to how many imps haunt your world.   
FS: it is compulsory that you defeat these imps so you can release the grist within them.   
FS: so that's basically what an imp is.   
TH: oh wow.   
WD: they're not as scary as they seem though.   
FS: oh, you're back.   
WD: yes.   
RH: so.   
WD: so what?   
RH: so what was it like beating up an imp?   
WD: strangely satisfying.   
WD: and, and guess what?   
RH: what?   
WD: grist is what. But that's not all. I. got. a. freaking. sylladex.   
RH: no way.   
WD: yes way.   
TH: do i even want to know what a sylladex is?   
FS: basically it's your personal inventory.   
WD: hey alec, do me a favor.   
RH: what.   
WD: deploy the punch designix   
RH: sure thing.   
RH: done, it's outside your window.   
WD: cool. i'll be back.   
FS: hey, it looks like you have company, alec.   
RH: oh hey i do too would you look at that. I'm just gonna go now and blow it's head off.   
FS: okay then.   
FS: hey i'll be back, i just need to get a few things prepared for when the imps decide to come barging in, you should too, grab a weapon you can wield best.   
TH: okay? 

William sits his computer on the couch and opens the glass sliding door to outside, just to be bombarded by an explosion of thunder. He shakes it off and goes around the back to the small shed where he knows there is an axe. William's yard would normally be the largest in the neighborhood (if the neighborhood still existed) and he and his uncle normally head off to the bush outside the city to woodcut, so William is extremely experienced at using an axe.

Although he's never once in his life used it as a weapon.

He takes the largest one-handed axe he can find and gives it a few good swings into the wooden shed just for good measure, then heads back out into the rain. Thunder claps once more, and nearly all the frogs have taken shelter under trees or his house or in the shed. He runs back inside and sits the axe up against the couch and starts back on his computer.

FS: hey, you still there?   
FS: guess not.   
TH: am now.   
FS: oh good. did you get a weapon?   
TH: my house isn't really prepped for this sort of thing, the most i could find was our biggest kitchen knife, seeming our other ones went missing. i wonder where they went?   
TH: speaking of missing, i haven't seen my mum ever since we came here.   
FS: oh, um. shit. I actually forgot about that.   
TH: forgot about what?   
FS: i'm not sure whether i should be the one to tell you this. i don't think i could.  
TH: tell me what exactly?   
FS: i'm sorry, maybe riana can tell you later. i don't think i have the heart.   
TH: but...   
FS: please, just leave it.   
TH: well, okay. fine.   
RH: wow, riana wasn't kidding when she said we get sylladexes.   
FS: did you have fun blowing the heads off imps?   
RH: one, it was only A imp, and two. yes, yes i did. Could you maybe deploy the...   
FS: way ahead of you. 

William had already deployed the punch designix after Alec had responded.

RH: thanks.   
RH: hey, looks like she made herself some stuff, and she's coming back.   
RH: some sweet things you made yourself there.   
RH: nice job.   
WD: hey thanks   
RH: but you'd wanna make a bigger weapon than that to kill the thing that's coming.   
WD: what?   
RH: remember ?   
WD: oh. oh right. shit, i actually forgot about them.   
RH: good luck.   
WD: thanks, i think.   
TH: what are you guys talking about?   
FS: i think i know what you mean.   
FS: are the crude ogres there?   
RH: i can see them coming.   
TH: what's a crude ogre?   
FS: oh boy, alright, you know how in video games there's always and end boss?   
TH: yes.   
FS: these are kind of like that, except they pop up whenever.   
FS: basically they are giant imps.   
TH: shit.   
TH: wait.   
TH: what the hell is that?   
FS: is it black?   
TH: yes, and it has deer horns.   
FS: did riana prototype your sprite with a deer?   
TH: a fake deer trophy yes.   
FS: then that would be an imp.   
TH: oh. crap!   
TH: what do i do?   
FS: take your knife and beat the crap out of it.   
TH: okay.  TH: hey.   
TH: hey that was really actually...   
TH: fun.   
FS: really?   
TH: yes. riana was right, they aren't all that hard to kill. There shell was probably the hardest to get through.   
TH: and i think i now understand what a 'sylladex'  
TH: it's so handy like you don't know.   
FS: i think i might actually.   
TH: okay, well...   
RH: hey, i'll distract it. Go make this. Asd4Rgh9. I've been experimenting with all the shit in my house. for about five minutes now and i made this. Go.   
WD: what is it?   
RH: see for yourself.   
FS: what are you talking about?   
RH: got nothing to do with you.   
TH: anyway... okay you've got an imp coming your way.   
FS: thanks 

William jumps off the couch and takes the axe in two hands and runs out the door, nearly crashing into the alchemiter that's basically in front of the door. He sees the imp and runs up to it, he narrows his eyes, he looks basically exactly like his father. That just makes it easier to kill. He runs up to it and with one swift movement of both of his arms he takes it's head off and it erupts into grist. That was fun, he's always wanted to do that. He collects the grist and shale, and finds the sylladex which he happily applies and puts the axe in.

WD: holy fuck, how did you even create that? what even the fuck was it?   
RH: it was a black hole bazooka.   
WD: nice.   
FS: is it dead?   
WD: yes.   
FS: good.   
TH: you actually KILLED that thing? how?   
TH: hello?   
TH: are you there?   
TH: did you die or something?   
FS: i really don't think she's dead.   
RH: no, by the looks of it she's talking to someone else, i can't see who though.   
RH: speaking of which, somebody is trying to talk to me.   
TH: hey, same here.   
FS: hey, would you look at that, me too. 

William tries getting over his shock right away at the name of the chumhandle/trolltag.

\-- arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling friendlySubjugator  [FS]  at ??:?? -- 

AC: :33 < *ac watches the little pink human from the purrch she has made herself.*  
FS: whoa no seriously? holy shit. Um. i mean. hello there nepeta.   
AC: :33 < *ac narrows her eyes at the human in suspicion, wondering how he knew her name.*   
FS: this is actually really cool. I didn't actually know you lot existed. although everything so far has become reality, so i shouldn't be so surprised.   
AC: :33 < *she cocks her head in curiosity, wondering what the human means by 'existed.'*   
FS: oh, um. don't mind me. i'm just thinking to myself out loud here.   
AC: :33 < *ac furgives the human and jumps down furom her purrch and brushes up against his legs.*   
AC: :33 < what's your name? *she asks*   
FS: i'm William, it's nice to meet you Nepeta.   
AC: :33 < *ac is still confused to how William knows her name.*   
AC: :33 < Hi anyway! *she says.*   
FS: yes, hello to you too, Nepeta. But may i ask why you have decided to troll ME?   
AC: :33 < *ac shrugs* i don't know, i guess beclaws you seem the most interesting to me.   
FS: oh. well thanks.   
AC: : 33 < h33h33.   
FS: hey, can i ask, can you see me?   
AC: :33 < yes! i can s33 mew through the window on my tablet. *she says.*   
AC: :33 < and mew just waved.   
FS: yes.   
AC: :33 < oh. oh no.   
FS: what?   
AC :33 < my meowrail just found out i was talking to a human.   
AC: :33 < he doesn't want me to mew s33.   
FS: oh okay, you better not disobey your meowrail, i mean moirail.   
AC: :33 < h33h33! okay then william bye!   
FS: goodbye 

\-- arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling friendlySubjugator  [FS]  at ??:?? -- 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for that being mostly memo and pesterlog.


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for short chapter

**Land of Beams and Chasms**  
*** 

\-- gallowsCalibrator  [GC]  began trolling thunderingHeavens  [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

GC: H1 TH3R3!  
TH: um, who are you?   
GC: MY N4M3'S T3R3Z1. WH4TS YOUR N4M3?   
TH: terezi, why does that sound familiar?   
GC: WH3N 1 4SK YOU 4 QU3ST1ON 1 3XP3CT YOU TO 4NSW3R 1T >:[   
TH: sorry. I'm Raine.   
GC: 1T'S N1C3 TO M33T YOU R41N3.   
TH: i know! you've got the same name as someone from a webcomic my friend is reading.   
GC: TH4T'S COOL. BUT 1 DON'T R34LLY C4R3. NOW, 4S F4R 4S 1'V3 S33N, YOU S33M TO B3 TH3 ONLY ON3 CONFUS3D 4BOUT TH1S G4M3 YOU'R3 PL4Y1NG.   
TH: nobody will explain things properly, they keep saying, 'i'll tell you when it matters' or 'i'll explain later' or whatever. they never give me a straight answer and it's making me even more confused.   
GC: W3LL, HOW 4BOUT 1 3XPL41N TH1NGS FOR YOU?   
TH: that'd be nice.   
GC: OK4Y, WH4T DO YOU W4NT TO KNOW?   
TH: everything   
GC 1F 1 3XPL41N3D 3V3RYTH1NG, 1T WOULD T4K3 D4YS.   
TH: okay then, um, William mentioned something about a god tier? What's that?   
GC: SO B4S1C4LLY, GOD T13R 1S 4 'L3V3L' YOU 4SC3ND TO WH3N YOU F1ND SOM3TH1NG C4LL3D 4 'QU3ST COCOON,' OR 4S TH3Y'R3 MOR3 COMMONLY KNOWN 4S, QU3ST B3D. YOU N33D TO F1ND TH1S 4ND 31TH3R CULL YOURS3LF ON 1T, OR W41T TO B3 CULL3D.   
TH: and what exactly does 'cull' mean?   
GC: K1LL.   
TH: you're joking, right?   
GC: NO.   
TH: fine, i'll just go along with this, seeming it's just one big nightmare anyway and i'm just going to wake up any minute.   
GC: Y34H, R1GHT, YOU JUST K33P TH1NK1NG TH4T 1F 1T H3LPS YOU G3T THROUGH TH1S G4M3.   
TH: why does everyone keep calling it a game?   
GC: B3C4US3 1T 1S 4 G4M3. YOU D3F34T 3N3M13S, YOU G3T 4W4RDS, 4ND YOU G3T TH3 ULT1M4T3 PR1Z3.   
TH: the ‘ultimate prize’ what’s that?  
GC: NOBODY KNOWS, W3 N3V3R F1GUR3D 1T OUT WH3N W3 PL4Y3D 1T.   
TH: who’s ‘we?’   
GC: M3 4ND 4NOTH3R 3L3V3N OF US   
TH: right.   
GC: SO DO YOU H4V3 4NY OTH3R QU3ST1ONS?   
TH: yeah, what are these green rings above my house?   
GC: TH3Y’R3 YOUR G4T3S, DUMMY! YOU P4SS THROUGH TH3M TO 4DV4NC3 1N YOUR WORLD.   
TH: oh okay, cool. So, what do these ‘sprites’ do?   
GC: TH3Y 4R3 YOUR GU1D3, TH3Y H3LP YOU 4LONG 1N YOUR JOURN3Y, YOU H4V3 TO PROTOTYP3 TH3M TW1C3.   
TH: well okay. I guess that’s it then.   
GC: OK4Y. 1 GU3SS 1’LL B3 T4LK1NG TO YOU L4T3R M4YB3. BY3! 

\-- gallowsCalibrator  [GC]  ceased trolling thunderingHeavens  [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

That was the most interesting conversation Raine had ever had. Even though she thinks it didn’t happen and all this is just a big nightmare, but she decides to play along anyway. She looks out the window and up at the sky and watches the colourful beams dance through the clouds; it’s actually quite beautiful and peaceful. Beams light up all around the house, occasionally some switch positions, lighting up another five metre radius circle. There are also many, large, holes in the ground, rays of light shine down each one and when she looks she can see to the very bottom. Some of them even have staircases leading down them. 

She places her giant knife in her sylladex, she wishes these things were actually real; they would come in so handy. It seems Riana has placed… what did they call it? The punch designer? Designix? Yeah that’s it. Riana has deployed the punch designix in the dining room where the table once was. She takes her sylladex out and grabs the card with the knife and then looks back at the machine. The machine is awaiting a number to be punched in, Raine flips the card over. She notices a code and types it in, the red light flicks to green and she pushes the card in, it creates many rectangular holes.

This card is now completely useless. 

She swears out loud. Well, while she’s here she might as well do some experimentation. She captchalogues the nearest item (which just happens to be the fish tank) and punches that too, it’s not like it matters, she’s going to wake up any second. Aaany second. She captchalogs the next thing she sees (a lightbulb?) and punches that.

Then her desktop lights up and she walks over to it. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  began pestering thunderingHeavens  [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

WD: hey, before you burn up all your cards, type this (99999999) into it and punch an empty card, get a totem for it from the cruxtruder and carve it with the card. Then scan it on the alchemiter and flush it into your deck.   
TH: whatever. 

She follows Riana’s instructions and it turns out it’s nine extra captchalogue cards. 

WD: hey, now, do the same things with the cards you’ve punched, two at a time. 

She does so, carving totems for the fish tank/knife, and then the light bulb/knife. The two resulting items are rather unusual to her. The fishy knife (that is literally what it’s called) is just the same knife with a coral reef embedded in it. And when she swings it releases a blast of water. The Excalilight (light bulb/knife) is a golden knife with an electric aura, and when she swings it releases a bolt of electricity.

Then she decides to combine the two, making the Fishy Excalilight. Now it releases an electrified splash of water with electricity jolting around it, and the little fish in the blade are all golden. It also got bigger, not by much but bigger.

“Nice.” She says. 

After a while she decides to combine the desktop with her necklace and earrings, a lot easier than having to go back to the computer. Speaking of which, somebody was trying to talk to her.

\-- centaursTesticle  [CT]  began trolling thunderingHeavens  [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

CT: D --> my Moirail has insisted that I converse with one of you pathetic humans. She insists that you are not as ‘bad as you 100k.’   
TH: whatever, I don’t even care anymore.   
CT: D --> is that so? Well, you sh001d care, you sh00d feel honoured that a high, b100b100d such as myself has taken the time and liberty to converse with such a lowb100d.   
TH: whatever.   
CT: D --> this, this is outrageous, infuriating. I command you to begin caring. You will do as I say.   
TH: who put you in charge?   
CT: D --> my place on the hemospectrum is at a much higher level than yours c001d ever be. That is what is in charge.   
TH: the hemo-whatnow?   
CT: D --> such f001ishness and dishonour. I think,   
CT: D --> I think I need a towel.   
TH: what? Why?   
CT: D --> I have a tendency to perspire when I become infuriated, or when situations become awkward. Or just any time.   
TH: ew, gross.   
CT: D --> yes, I am aware that my perspiration problem may be a bit putrid.  
TH: actually, no, it’s just a bit weird; I’m not trying to bag out your weird disability thing whatever or anything. Actually it’s kind of really funny, in a non-teasing way.   
CT: D --> is that so?   
TH: well, yeah, kind of? But it’s still kind of gross too.   
CT: D --> I think I require another towel.   
TH: haha, whatever.   
CT: D --> hm. You know, my Moirail may have been right on her analysis of you humans, despite your foul blood you are not like my cohorts. You are not foul mouthed as they are.   
CT: D --> you are act001y quite… how do I put it, delightful to talk to. Maybe not as far as that, but I think you are quite an a%eptable being.   
TH: well, thanks. You too, I guess. Even with your whole commanding and sweating thing.   
CT: D --> perhaps I shall consider chatting with you in a later period of time. Goodbye human.   
TH: hey, I never caught your name.   
CT: D --> ….   
CT: D --> Equius.   
TH: well I’m Raine.   
CT: D --> yes. It was nice meeting you Raine.   
TH: hey, yeah, you too. Bye. 

\-- centaursTesticle  [CT]  ceased trolling thunderingHeavens  [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate Terezi's quirk. if you spot any i've missed, it would be nice if you could tell me! thanks
> 
> *EDIT* Gid dimmit apparently past me is horrible at Troll quirks. Oops. Too lazy to fix them.


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters are getting shorter and shorter, i'll try and make the next one a bit longer

**Land of Shadows and Catacombs**  
***

\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  began trolling redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  at ??:?? -- 

AA: i am 0nly here t0 inf0rm y0u that y0u are destined t0… d00m… a timeline   
AA: that is all 

\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  began trolling redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  at ??:?? -- 

RH: whoa harsh man. 

Alec already half knew that the trolls would exist, as everything else that has happened throughout Homestuck has already become reality, so he wasn’t surprised. What he didn’t understand was why Aradia had tailed the ‘doom’ like that. And why she would even tell him that. He just shrugs and readjusts his red-tinted, computer shades. He sits down at his laptop and stares at the screen; it seems Riana has busted a lot of imps by now, because the grist cache is full. 

He shrugs and decides to start building on her house; it isn’t very large to begin with, unlike his. His is a three storey house with all the modern technology. First he starts by flattening out the roof, and then builds a ladder from the ground up. He builds up a small wall about two metres across and copies it, laying four of them as a foundation for the next level. He pulls flooring over the top of the four beams and attaches a ladder. This is actually a lot like the Sims, Alec notes. 

He builds until he runs out of grist, and Riana pesters him.

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  began pestering redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  at ??:?? -- 

WD: whoa, what the fuck did you do to my house?   
RH: what the fuck do you think I did? I built, and now you’re out of grist and you need to get more.   
RH: ah, perfect, two more ogres coming your way.   
WD: WHAT?! 

Alec picks up this large looking machine thing that he thinks is called a post driver? Whatever. He picks it up and drops it on an ogre’s head, taking it’s life meter down by half. But then somebody decides to pester him again.

\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  began trolling redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  at ??:?? -- 

AA: perhaps I sh0uld p0int 0ut that y0u will n0t d00m Y0UR timeline, but y0u will d00m A timeline. Unless y0u can st0p it 0f c0urse, using y0ur d00m p0wers.   
RH: what I’m a doom player?   
AA: yes.   
RH: alright then miss smarty robot pants how do I doom it?   
AA: h0w did y0u kn0w I was a r0b0t?   
RH: that’s not important. I want to know how I doom the timeline?   
AA: A timeline, n0t THE timeline. y0u d0n’t d00m y0ur 0wn.   
RH: alright then, how do I doom a timeline?   
AA: I’m n0t 0bliged t0 tell y0u that.   
RH: why the fuck not?   
AA: I d0n’t like giving sp0ilers.   
RH: oh right like you really care   
AA: y0u’re right, I d0n’t. I just d0n’t like y0u.   
RH: but this is the first time you’ve talked to me   
AA: n0t fr0m my perspective. I have talked t0 y0u six times by n0w.   
RH: oh, okay   
AA: aren’t y0u the least bit curi0us in t0 h0w I have talked t0 y0u six times when this is 0nly the first time y0u’ve talked t0 me?   
RH: no not really   
AA: why n0t? y0u sh0uld be.   
RH: one: I already know how. Two: I just don’t care   
AA: tell me h0w then.   
RH: do I really have to? I mean it would just be a huge waste of time. Couldn’t you just like, go to another timeline and find out then?   
AA: I supp0se s0. But that w0uld just be extra eff0rt 0n my behalf. And h0w did y0u kn0w I was a time player?   
RH: find out yourself   
AA: y0u are s0 stubb0rn.   
RH: I know. My mother said it’ll get me killed one day, I didn’t really listen   
AA: what’s a m0ther?   
RH: there really is no point in explaining, another me in a different timeline will explain   
AA: stubb0rn.   
AA: 0kay s0 n0w I understand everything. H0w d0es a human kn0w 0f us, when we have never 0nce c0ntacted humans bef0re y0u?   
RH: what you mean AH?   
AA: I believe I d0.   
RH: ask me in another timeline then   
AA: 0h my g0d y0u are s0 ind0lent.   
RH: tell another me who cares. Oh wait, none of them will   
AA: y0u are h0rrible.   
RH: i know   
RH: now, if you would excuse me, i have a friend to continue helping   
AA: It is quite amazing that y0u w0uld even be capable to experience the human em0ti0n 0f ‘friendship.’   
RH: friendship isn’t an emotion dumbass   
AA: 0f c0urse it’s n0t.   
AA: but if it was, y0u w0uldn’t be able t0 experience it. Strictly speaking, y0u d0n’t have any friends.   
RH: was that an insult, because you would have won the limbo championship because of how low that was   
AA: what’s limb0.   
RH: a human game where there’s a bar set to a particular height and it’s the first person to get under it and knock all their teeth out   
AA: what that didn’t even make sense.   
RH: psyche   
RH: but no seriously how do you not know what limbo is? Everyone knows what limbo is   
AA: maybe because 0f the p0ssibility that I am n0t human. And it s0unds stupid.   
RH: don’t dis the jamaicans and their awesome game   
AA: what’s a jamaican?   
RH: man do you not know anything? Whatever, ask another me. I am done goodbye 

\-- redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  ceased trolling apocalypseArisen  [AA]  at ??:?? -- 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and guess who now ships alec/aradia black?


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> where the author really wants to HURRY UP AND MAKE THESE GUYS GOD TIER AND NOT JUST BABBLE ON ABOUT SHIT ALL NOTHING. no seriously, you don't know how bad i want to make these guys ascend it's really ticking me off but it won't be happening for a while so sdkjjsdjsdvkjasdvkjasdvvkjasd

I see mums post driver fly through the air and crash into the ogre, i have to jump out of the way so it doesn't fly back and hit me, it would have killed me if i didn't it's my size and a half for fucks sake! I run up to the ogre and slam the FVC into its shin, it's life meter thing whatever begins to drain. i run around behind it and swing with a pretty strong force into it's ankle, cracking the carapace shell and making it release this horrible moan.

I slide between the legs of the other ogre just before it takes a swing at me and i climb on a nearby post, jumping and clasping onto it's shirt and climbing up. I put a crack in its head and it roars out, another flame vortex thing appears and begins to drain its health. Whoa that just sounded way too much like a video game, but hey, that's what sBurb is, right?

It reaches a giant hand up towards me and i attempt to hit it back with the bat but it grabs it and tosses it over onto the roof of my house, then grabs me.  
"Ack! let me go!" i shout instinctively, although i know very well that it won't. And then mums car flies at the both of us. It slams right into the ogre's gut, making it explode in grist. I fall on my butt on the ground with a thump, then my bat suddenly drops on my lap. I rub my sore back and collect all the grist, then click a small button on the side of my sunglasses.

WD: hey, thanks.   
RH: damn right.   
WD: shut up. now get your ass back to building up my house, i nearly died getting that grist for you.   
RH: don't blame this on me, if you hadn't climbed up that ogres back it wouldn't of grabbed you.   
WD: watevs. now get back to work.   
RH: don’t be telling me what to do, you ain’t the boss of me. And besides, I haven’t even prototyped my sprite yet, find a way to occupy yourself while I go do some shit, I wanna awesome guide, so I’ll be back. 

\-- redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  ceased pestering wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

I sigh and captchalogue the bat, rubbing my hair out of my eyes and walk inside, maybe I can alchemise a few more things. After captchaloguing some items I walk back out to the designix and just look it over.

 _Hey, why the fuck not?_ I think to myself and type a random code in and push a blank card. Obviously this card is entirely useless now, so I just take it over to the totem lathe after grabbing a cruxite dowel and shoving it in the machine.  
In the end it makes a poster of some guy I’ve never seen or heard of, running through a chair which is connected to a pair of large bat wings. I take it off and the wings actually flutter which kind of creeps me out, I captchalogue it anyhow, then go ahead and make more captcha cards. But then somebody decides to chat with me.

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG]  began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? --

CG: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING MESSING AROUND LIKE THAT STOP WASTING YOUR CARDS.   
WD: i don't really care.   
CG: WELL YOU SHOULD CARE, A TRUE LEADER DOESN'T WASTE THEIR FUCKING TIME LIKE THIS.   
WD: whoa who said anything about a leader.   
CG: WELL OF COURSE YOUR THE FUCKING LEADER, EVERYBODY CAME TOGETHER BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOU SAVED TWO OF YOUR COHORTS LIVES IF THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU THE FUCKING LEADER I DON'T KNOW WHAT DOES.   
WD: dude, we're all individuals working together to complete specific tasks there doesn't always have to be a leader.   
CG: YES THERE DOES   
WD: watevs, i don't even care.   
CG: WELL YOU SHOULD   
WD: but i don't.   
CG: GOD YOU ARE SO FUCKING DUMB I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY I'M TRYING TO FUCKING HELP YOU   
WD: nobody asked you to help us.   
CG: FINE I WON'T THEN   
WD: fine.   
CG: FINE   
WD: fine.   
CG: FINE.   
CG: .. .. ..   
CG: .. ..   
CG: NO FUCK THIS I AM HELPING YOU WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT A *REAL* FUCKING LEADER DOES.   
WD: watevs.   
CG: AND YOU'RE GOING TO START BY SENDING ME THE CODE TO THAT MESSED UP PIECE OF SHIT YOU JUST MADE.   
WD: what why?   
CG: BECAUSE I FUCKING SAID SO AND I KNOW AN ASSHOLE WHO CAN UNFUCK IT AND I SHOULDN'T NEED TO TELL YOU WHY SO JUST FUCKING GIVE IT TO ME.   
WD: fuck fine jesus. w4iLo0rR   
CG: W4lEw4rP   
WD: damn that was fast.   
CG: YOU'RE FUCKING WELCOME, NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  ceased trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

I quickly alchemise it and it turns out he just too the poster and chair away and left the wings. nice. An idea formulates in my head and i mix the wings and my green jacket with each other, being sure to take my jacket back out because it's actually quite chilly out here. I make the Waling Jacket, the wings firmly attached to the back, and they actually flap. and lift me off the ground. Hell. Fucking. Yes.

I take off into the air and oh my god flying is awesome. I stop after about twenty minutes when i see Alec has started to build up on my house again. Whilst i was in my own little world up in the sky, it seems that imps had invaded my property and broken into the house. I grab my bat and proceed to bash the crap out of them.

\-- redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  began pestering wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

RH: did i ever tell you what i prototyped my sprite with?.   
WD: No   
RH: well so i have this hummingbird alarmclock that i got for my bday a few years back and its awesome.   
WD: Uh huh.   
RH: no srsly it's so fucking awesome.   
WD: Continue.   
RH: okay fine anyway i threw that in a few minutes before i entered and now i have a fucking time-travelling sprite how cool is that?   
WD: YOU FUCKING IDIOT!   
RH: what why?   
WD: Do you know how much POWER you just gave our enemy?!   
WD: I mean you could have at least prototyped it SECOND.   
RH: why?   
WD: Hello? THE BLACK QUEENS RING YOU IDIOT.   
RH; oh shit, fuck, i actually forgot about that.   
WD: HOW DO YOU FORGET ABOUT THAT? OH SHIT STILL GOT CAPSLOCK ON that's better. how do you forget about that?   
RH: with all this shit that's going on it so fucking hard to remember left from right.   
WD: well you just doomed us all.   
RH: speaking of doom, i found out that i'm a doom player.   
WD: how?   
RH: aradia.   
WD: so i'm not the only one who's been hassled by trolls.   
RH: no. who spoke to you?   
WD: Karkat.   
RH: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh my god really?   
WD: yes.   
RH: oh my god i am laughing so hard i'm fuckin crying.  
WD: why what's so bad about talking to Karkat?   
WD: he and no doubt Sollux helped get me the awesome fucking wings.   
RH: wait what? 

I flap the wings once, it's actually amazing that i can actually control them.

RH: holy shit man, you got fuckin wings? since when   
WD: since about half hour ago  
WD: now can i go back to beating up imps yet?   
RH: wait, this means i don't really actually need to build up to the gate, technically you could just fly up there.   
WD: but what about when Raine reaches her second gate? do you want her to just fall to her doom?   
RH: i suppose not.   
WD: you just keep building and i'll keep bashing, bye. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  ceased pestering redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  at ??:?? -- 

I then proceed to do just that. After i had dealt with them, i sat down on the couch with my laptop in front of me, i really should start building up on Raine's house. Firstly it's the standard procedure, flatten the roof out, make some beams to support the next level, add some stairs and yadda yadda yadda.

\-- thunderingHeavens [TH]  began pestering wakingDragons [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

TH: oh my god what are you doing to my house?   
WD: this is a crucial part of the game, every body needs to build up to their client player's, that is to say the person you're viewing right now, gates.. um, have we explained the gates to you yet?   
TH: no, but some person named terezi did.   
WD: terezi? are you serious? just a warning, be careful of her, she can get you into trouble sometimes.   
TH: i don't know, she seemed pretty nice and she was willing to tell me stuff that you guys wouldn't explain. including the whole matter of this god tier thing.   
WD: oh.   
WD: anyway, i'm just building to your gate right now, so you can pass through it and teleport to a different district in your world. so don't be alarmed.   
WD: however, this costs grist, and that means when i run out you're just going to have to kill some more imps to get that grist and oh shit there's an ogre heading your way.   
TH: what?!   
WD: hold on i'll deal with it. 

I throw everything i can at it: statues, the lawn mower.. the car. it seems after throwing the car a few times it kills it. She collects the grist whilst pulling a face that said 'are you kidding me my car just magically flew through the air and killed this big ass ugly thing.' actually, no, that is probably literally what she was thinking, i can read her like a fucking book. It takes about half hour to build halfway up, and by that time i'm out again. i ditch the laptop for a while and when i walk outside my jaw nearly hits the ground by how big my house has suddenly gotten.

\-- redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  began pestering wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

RH: dude.  
RH: how do you like the adjustments to your house?  
RH: because i. am. done.   
RH: you can thank me later. 

\-- redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  ceased pestering wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This Chapter Has Been Edited*


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where the author introduces you to DERSE and PROSPIT. uh huh, that's right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i had a hard time trying to figure out who would be on what planet but i eventually came to:  
> Alec and Riana: Derse  
> William and Raine: Prospit  
> shut up that's not a spoiler.
> 
> and i'm not quite sure but i think when you're your dream self you don't remember some stuff from when you're awake? I got that idea from how Jade couldn't remember what sburb was when she was her dream self i don't know.

I crane my neck back so far that it starts to hurt.  
"Holy shit. " is all i say. I can see the bright blue rings circling high (well not so high anymore) above my house. I take a few steps back so i don't have to hurt my neck so much and i can see all the seven gates above on another. I guess i should be going. I flap the wings twice and the third time i blast into the sky, continuing to flap to sustain lift. I watch the house rush by me as i fly towards the sky, flapping every two seconds to keep me aloft. I reach the top level and just as i was about to pass through the gate my vision begins to blur and i forget to flap, and start to fall. Of course i didn't realise this as i drifted off to unconsciousness. 

I wake up in an entirely different location, yet it was terribly familiar. I sit up on the bed i was lying on and brush my long, purple gown of wrinkles and then instinctively make my bed. Where my sisters bed would normally sit is a strange looking machine that only seems vaguely familiar, but i can't put my finger on where i had seen it before. I look out the tower window and at the purple streets below, it was incredibly fancy with many tall buildings (although not as tall as this tower) and bridges. 

I climb on the window sill and leap out, well duh, obviously i can fly. i pull myself up into the air and land on the roof, looking over Derse. Well, that is to say Derse's moon. I see the other tower over the other side, another dreamer obviously. I jump off the roof and decide to explore the moon a bit, carapaces far below point up at me and i wave back down at them and twist myself to turn left, heading towards the other tower. I lean in the window and see a boy sleeping peacefully on his dream bed, red tinted sunglasses that fit perfectly over his eye sockets have slid down his nose and basically off his face. He sleeps in a purple pyjama suit, a pink moon embedded on his chest. The morons asleep. I push myself back and up, flying down to the streets below. I blast along the purple concrete just a few inches above it and take off to explore Derse's moon. 

I head back to my tower at least an hour and a half later, lying down on my bed and closing my eyes, flying gets exhausting after a while.

My eyes flutter open and i sit up, eyes wide. I feel the object i'm sitting on, it's soft. I look down and realise that i'm on my bed, suspended high above the ground by a platform extending outwards from the built up house. I breathe a sigh of relief, now all i can think about was the dream. Derse is real. That must mean Prospit is real. Wow, what a day it's been. I decide to inform the others of my dream, starting with William.

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  began pestering friendlySubjugator  [FS]  at ??:?? -- 

WD: hey William.   
WD: just wanting to let you know that Derse is real.   
WD: Which would mean Prospit is real.  
WD: and Skaia too no doubt.   
WD: dude, are you there?   
WD: huh, guess not.   
WD: You know you should always have a means of communication on you at all time.   
WD: guess i'll talk to you later then.   
WD: bye. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  ceased pestering friendlySubjugator  [FS]  at ??:?? -- 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  began pestering thunderingHeavens [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

WD: hey raine.  
TH: hey riana   
WD: well at least you're responding to me.   
TH: why, who's not talking to you?   
WD: william.   
TH: maybe that's because he fell asleep right before he was about to pass through the gate.   
WD: him too huh?   
TH: what do you mean 'him too?'   
WD: i only just woke up from a nap of my own.   
WD: oh and you built up to his gate?   
WD: well done.   
WD: hello?   
WD: helloooooooo?   
WD: oh god you didn't fall asleep on me too did you?   
WD: oh god you did, didn't you?   
WD: well fuck 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  ceased pestering thunderingHeavens [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  began pestering redeyedHellmaker [RH]  at ??:?? -- 

WD: you're not asleep too are you?   
WD: .. ..   
WD: fuck you are. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  ceased pestering redeyedHellmaker [RH]  at ??:?? -- 

I sigh and jump off the bed, flapping my wings and then flying back down to the house, i suppose i should take my laptop with me. I captchalogue it then fly all the way up to the gate, not passing out this time, and it rings as i pass through it. 

I'm teleported into a consort village, and i'm greeted with a chorus of naks. Alligator consorts, that's just what i needed. They seem to be shocked and panicked at my sudden appearance out of nowhere, and they're running around like mad. I sigh and just ignore them.

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  began trolling wakingDragons [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

CG: HOLY FUCK YOU'RE ACTUALLY MAKING USE OF YOUR TIME INSTEAD OF JUST FALLING ASLEEP AND DOING NOTHING. IT'S ONE OF GAMZEE'S FUCKING MIRACLES.   
WD: shut up karkat, and for your information i was Derse dreaming, so stfu.   
CG: NO. I WILL CONTINUE TALKING AND YOU WILL SIT HERE AND FUCKING LISTEN.   
WD: well, i'm listening.   
CG: SHUT UP.   
WD: what's the matter, got nothing to say, or should i say, Kat got your tongue?   
CG: OH MY GOD THAT WAS LITERALLY THE WORST PUN IN THE HISTORY OF PUNS AND I KNOW THREE FUCKASSES WHO USE PUNS. NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN   
WD: okay, yeah, i admit that was pretty lame.   
CG: MY POINT EXACTLY. NOW, YOU NEED TO STOP MESSING AROUND AND FIND THE SECOND GATE SO YOU CAN WAKE YOUR TAINTCHAFE OF A *FRIEND* UP.   
CG: HE'S JUST LYING THERE, DOING NOTHING.   
WD: maybe he's Derse dreaming too?   
CG: HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW HE'S A DERSE DREAMER?   
WD: what, you don't think i'd take a sneak peak at who shares a moon with me? how lame do you think i am?   
CG: VERY   
WD: shut up.   
CG: NOW, HURRY UP AND FIND THAT SECOND GATE OF YOURS. GOG KNOWS HOW LONG HE'LL BE ASLEEP FOR, YOU WERE ASLEEP FOR TWO FUCKING HOURS.   
WD: what if i want to explore a bit?   
CG: WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT EXPLORING. BE THE FUCKING LEADER AND WAKE YOUR IDIOTIC COHORT UP   
WD: no.   
CG: OH FOR FUCKS SAKE WHY ARE YOU SO STUBBORN?   
WD: i'm done talking to you.   
CG: NO, WAIT, NO! 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD]  ceased being trolled by carcinoGeneticist [CG]  at ??:?? -- 

I walk on and start the adventure that is exploring the village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And apologies for the shitty pun, i just had to say it i don't know why hahahahaha yeah.
> 
> EDIT: thanks to AO3 user silckenSoul for pointing out that i completely fucked up derse dreaming, and that i will be changing at least 2 or three chapters, this one including so it's right. thanks again.


	9. 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't even know about this chapter
> 
> Apologies for it being so short.

William rubs his head when he wakes up, processing this new information that Prospit and Derse were actually real. He's lying on the top platform just below the gate, and it doesn't take much for him to jump up through it. The first thing he hears is a tremendous clap of thunder when he passes through, the second is the parade of croaking. He's up to his ankles in frogs. He sees a village down far below in a valley, he nudges some of the frogs out of the way and begins to pace down towards it. He finds that the village is full of salamanders, and they greet him with some friendly bubble blowing.

He gives them a friendly smile and they all laugh and do their strange little dance. He walks on through the village, sometimes participating in a casual conversation with the consorts. But the last salamander he talked too was the strangest.  
 "Good evening mister!" He cried and William smiled as normal.  
"Greeting to you too." He then politely introduces himself,  
"I am William, it's a pleasure to meet you." He holds out a hand but the salamander seems to ignore it and throws his little hands in the air instead.  
"Yes! I know who you are! You are the Hero of space! Although some of my fellow consorts would deny it." William already knew he was a space player, the signs were obvious, and just because of the fact that his planet's name had 'frogs' in it was enough to know.  
"Yes, i believe i am."  
"Yes, yes. Now, there is something i need to advise you on before you go any further."  
"Oh?"  
"Yes. Have you heard of Jas?"  
William looked confused for a moment then shook his head.  
"No."  
"Ask around, find him and you can continue forth in your journey. He can help you."  
"Okay? I guess i will."  
"Excellent!" He cries and then waves goodbye, waddling off to go attend to something else. Who is this Jas? William asks himself and shrugs, he guesses it can't hurt to find out. He asks a group of salamanders up ahead, they point northward but that's it. William sighs and continues forwards, asking every salamander he can find. They don't give him any proper directions, and eventually William just sighs and sits down on a nearby stump. And then his alchemised glasses flash and he opens up pesterchum. 

\-- arsenicCatnip  [AC]  began trolling friendlySubjugator  [FS]  at ??:?? -- 

AC: :33 < my meowrail said i can talk to mew again!   
FS: oh, really?   
AC: :33 < yes!   
FS: well, that's excellent!   
AC: :33 < it sure is! (i was still going to keep talking to mew regardless. h33h33)   
FS: yes, very funny.   
AC: :33 < but let us celebrate later, right meow let us try and find this Jas! I know where he is, so i can help mew.   
FS: really? you're going to help me?   
AC: :33 < yes! well, unless mew don't want me too.   
FS: oh no! i am really grateful that you're helping me out, don't get me wrong.   
AC: :33 < well good! meow, i'll draw mew a map to show you where it is. here.   
arsenicCatnip [AC] sent friendlySubjugator [FS]  the file.   
FS: oh wow. wow, you really are an excellent drawer.   
AC: :33 < thank mew! :33  
FS: no, thank YOU.   
AC: :33 < alright, while mew go find this Jas, i'll be doing something else, i probably won't be back fur a while, so goodbye fur now.   
FS: okay yes, thank you again.   
AC: h33h33. you're welcome. 

William stands back up and begins to follow the map. He arrives at a large hut, and he knocks on the door. He's ushered in, it looked larger on the outside.  
"Oh, you must be the Hero. welcome!" he bellows, another crack of thunder blasts outside and William covers his ears.  
"So, are you Jas?"  
"Why, yes i am."  
"Well, i was told that you can help me on my journey."  
"That is correct."  
"Um, how, may i ask?"  
"I can direct you to your next gate."  
"Oh wow. really?"  
"Yes."  
"Neat." They wait in silence for a while, William waiting for an answer he doesn't get.  
"Um, would you be able to, you know, tell me? Please?" "Yes." They wait for a moment again and William taps his finger on his arm.  
"Well..?" He starts but Jas cuts in.  
"Only when you are ready." William moans, god knows when that will be. Jas looks to the roof, closing his eyes for a moment then reopening them.  
"They are in trouble. help them."  
"Who?"  
"You leave now."  
"What, why?"  
"Go." And with that, William turns around and leaves.

"Oh." He says, he understands now who was in trouble. The whole down town is infested with imps, basilisks, ogres et cetera. He takes his modified axe from his sylladex and begins slaying as many as he can, making sure they don't harm the consorts. He gets hit numerous times, and even bled at one point, but he just stood back up and continued to attempt to protect the consorts. But there are just too many, he can't take them all with just an axe, it's impossible. His heart pounds fast, he backs up to the group of small salamanders, holding an arm out in front of them and his eyes wide with fear.

**BOY**

That caught his attention. it was minor and barely audible, but he heard it.

**YOU THERE, BOY.**

It was louder this time, and he is certain he heard it.

**QUIT MESSING AROUND. DO SOMETHING.**

Do what though? there is nothing he _can_ do.

**BOY, ARE YOU LISTENING? DO SOMETHING.**

_I have a name you know_ he thinks to the voice. _William._

**FINE THEN. WILLIAM. STOP JUST STANDING AROUND BEING DORKY. DO SOMETHING.**

William is anything but dorky.

**YOU SHOULD DO THAT SPACE THING.**

What?

**YOU KNOW. THE SPACE THING. DO THE SPACEY THING.**

What space thing? (William has become completely oblivious to the oncoming imps and is trapped in his own mind.)

**DO THE SPACEY THING. I DEMAND YOU DO THE SPACEY THING.**

He has no idea what the spacey thing is.

**DO THE SPACEY THING DO THE SPACEY THING DO THE SPACEY THING DO THE SPACEY THING.**

William clutches a hand to his head, this voice is giving him a headache and confusing him.

**WHAT ARE YOU DUMB? DUMB BOY, DO THE SPACEY THING.**

Whoa he did not just call William stupid.

**IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO DIE I ADVISE THAT YOU DO THE SPACEY THING. YOU STUPID DUMB BOY. DUMB DUMB STUPID DUMB.**

This is making him incredibly mad, and if this voice doesn't shut the fuck up, he's going to have to do something about it.

**DUMB STUPID BOY DO THE SPACEY THING! DO THE SPACEY THING STUPID BOY!**

William throws his hands downwards and lets out an uncontrollable shriek. Black triangle like shapes begin to unravel from him and shoot out towards the imps in all different directions, within the black rips are many, many stars, a galaxy. They wrap around the imps, swallowing them all up and twisting into a large cylinder which shoots into the sky. And then it literally explodes in a mass of starry space. And just like that it disappears, and all the imps in the area disappear, and the consorts are all cheering.

**THERE. YOU DID THE SPACEY THING.**

So he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (now- meow??? i don't know)
> 
> I'm sorry, i just wanted this bit to be over, so i can get them move, move moving.


	10. 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn this chapter is so short i don't even know.
> 
> No inspiration.
> 
> plus i've been very lazeh today
> 
> EDIT: no, i've made a teensy bit longer, also been edited

***

WD: the spacey thing huh?   
FS: yes.   
WD: now doesn't that sound familiar.   
FS: but you should have seen me, i was like a hero to those salamanders they wouldn't stop cheering.   
FS: actually they still ARE cheering, i can barely even concentrate with them blowing their weird bubbles in my face.   
WD: well at least you don't have alligators nakking in your ear.   
WD: hey, fuck off! get your own fucking glasses!   
WD: whoops, i didn't mean to actually say that.   
FS: right, anyway, i should be going, getting back to Jas.   
WD: who's Jas?   
FS: uh, never mind. I'll talk to you later.   
WD: yeah watevs. 

\-- friendlySubjugator  [FS]  ceased pestering wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? 

William clicks a button on the side of his glasses to shut pesterchum down, sighing and jumping off the consorts that had picked him up and started doing their dance. he waves goodbye to them and walks back up to Jas' hut.  
"I would like to congratulate you on your success." He says.  
"Thanks." He rubs the back of his head, still hardly believing that he literally just made the imps disappear. He got a heck of a lot of grist from it too. A moment of silence passes them, and William was about to speak but Jas interrupted him.  
"You are ready." Williams eyes open wide and he looks up at him  
"Really? you're going to tell me?"  
"Yes." a few moments pass and Jas inhales,  
"The gate is located at the highest point of this village." William rolls his eyes and says, trying not to sound annoyed,  
"Could you maybe tell me where that is?"  
"Three miles north-west from here. It also just happens to be the end of the village. that is all." William nods and thanks him, then walks out of the hut. 

And realises he doesn't know which way north-west is. 

He sighs and keeps walking the way he was previously to get to here, he just guess which way north-west is. He walks for a while, and after about twenty minutes he notices the ground begins to slope up steeply. He looks to the top of the hill and he can't see over it. Eventually, _eventually,_ he reaches the top and scans the area. All he sees is a cleared out area with another tall, steep hill. And above that is the gate. William moans and begins his long journey upwards.

About an hour passes and he's finally reached the top, the gate is spinning slowly and emitting an ominous light blue glow. It's actually kind of hypnotising if he kept staring at it. He shakes out of his awe and jumps right up through it.

//

Raine awakens in a golden world. She sits up straight in her dream bed and stretches, as if she has been asleep for years. She swings her feet out from under the blankets and stands up, stretching once more. She places her hands on the window sill and looks out, staring at the second tower in the distance. She pulls herself up and leaps out, catching herself and then blasting into the air. 

She sits on her tower roof and stares at Skaia. She can see the clouds changing colours and project images, ut one cloud is rather large, and it shows a colourful skied land with beams projecting into chasms. There are three figures within it; a black carapace with large, straight wings, a human face, and is standing like an animal, down on four legs, they're back legs bent the opposite direction than normal. They're front two hands are more human than animal, one fist is clenching a sword. He's snarling at two human figures, one with an axe in hand and another with a large knife. Just as the black figure leaps at them, the cloud fades and returns to normal. 

Raine only barely had enough time to notice that one of the human figures was her. But she just shrugs it off, that place did not look at all familiar. She returns to her tower after a while of exploring Prospit, tucking herself back in and then falling back to sleep. 

She reawakens on her couch and blinks. She has no idea what that was. She shakes her head and then remembers the clouds, they had shown a picture of her and William fighting that thing, whatever it was. 

\-- thunderingHeavens [TH]  began pestering wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

TH: hey, i just had the weirdest dream.   
WD: what.   
TH: of a place called prospit?   
WD: i gathered so.   
TH: why would you gather that?   
WD: because not too long ago i had a dream of Derse.   
TH: what's derse?   
WD: basically it's Prospit's sister planet.   
TH: well, okay.   
TH: but i also saw something else.   
TH: in the clouds of, what was it, Skaia?  
WD: what did you see?   
TH: it was me and William about to fight this black animal guy who looked a mix between a bird, lion, deer and human.   
WD: oh shit, really? Where does this take place?   
TH: here on my land.   
WD: fuck.  
WD: i'll try and get there as fast as i can, as soon as i deal with this troll. 

\-- wakingDragons[WD]  ceased pestering thunderingHeavens [TH]  at ??:?? -- 

TH: wait what? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this i've realised that i've been changing from past to present tense all the way through. damn, i'm going to have to quit that habit.


	11. 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, yeah, all the kids are going to be quick getting to their second gate, except for raine that is because riana is a slacko and hasn't built up yet. 
> 
> and i don't think i captured Karkat in this chapter correctly :c

I switch from one Pesterlog to the other and sigh.

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  \--

CG: OKAY, YOU DO NOT GET TO CUT ME OFF LIKE THAT.   
CG: IT'S UNAC FUCKING CEPTABLE. I'M TRYING TO FUCKING HELP YOU HERE.   
WD: like i said, i never asked for your help.   
CG: DID YOU EVER GIVE IT ANY THOUGHT THAT I MIGHT ACTUALLY WANT TO HELP YOU?   
CG: AND NOT THAT I HAVE TO HELP YOU?   
WD: look, fine, if it will get you to shut up you can help me.   
CG: GOOD.   
CG: FIRST OF ALL, LIKE I SAID EARLIER, YOU NEED TO FIND YOUR GATE INSTEAD OF FUCKING AROUND HERE.   
CG: YOU CAN ALWAYS COME BACK AND EXPLORE YOUR LAND LATER.   
CG: AND FOR FUCKS SAKES STOP FUCKING AROUND WITH THOSE CONSORTS.   
WD: they're trying to steal my glasses, what am i supposed to do, let THEM talk to you?   
WD: no, i don't think so.   
CG: JUST GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE. 

I sigh and shove some alligators out of the way, making my way to a high point so they can't reach me. I find myself on top of a roof and stare into the horizon, clicking the button on the side of my sunnies and continuing our conversation.

WD: so are you going to help me find my gate or are you just going to continue pissing me off?   
CG: I'M GOING TO CONTINUE PISSING YOU OFF, BECAUSE FINDING YOUR GATE FOR YOU IS 1) CHEATING, AND 2) YOU WON'T GAIN ANY FUCKING EXPERIENCE.   
WD: god fine.   
WD: can you at least give me a hint?   
CG: FUCK, FINE. YOU ARE SO USELESS. ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT IT'S AT THE HIGHEST POINT OF THAT STUPID FUCKING CONSORT VILLAGE.   
WD: sigh.

I spread the bat wings and take off into the air, ascending higher and higher until i can see the entire perimeter of the village. My eyes dart from left to right, i take the sunglasses off in attempt to see better, seeming it's night anyway and it's already hard enough to see. I ignore them when they flash in my hands, it's only Karkat. from this height, it's like the city almost glows because of the many little lanterns the alligators keep in their gardens. It illuminates it's entire surrounding, reflecting off the titanium ground. Not to mention the moon shining down on them. It's actually really kind of peaceful. I flap the wings and begin circling the village, but i can't seem to find the gate. 

I fall back down, the earth rushing towards me, free falling is actually a very exhilarating sensation, fun almost. Fuck it, it is fun, there's no doubt about it, i always thought i'd be kind of scared if i ever free fell, but, there's just something about it that makes you never want to stop. But of course, it always has to end, because there is such thing as _solid earth rushing right at you_ , and, you know, if you don't stop, you'll die. 

I reopen the wings about fifty meters above ground and glide back down, landing in what i hoped would be a graceful landing but ended up being a clumsy mess. I stand back up after the stars in my head stopped spinning and sit down, sliding the sunglasses back on my nose.

CG: HOLY SHIT YOU'RE ACTUALLY FUCKING LISTENING TO ME  
CG: IT'S A FUCKING MIRACLE.   
CG: HOLY SHIT, STOP. I CAN'T SEE YOU IF YOU GO THAT HIGH.   
CG: OH FOR FUCKS SAKE. WHY THE FUCK DID YOU TAKE YOUR GLASSES OFF?   
CG: PUT THEM BACK ON YOU FUCKASS.   
WD: alright, alright calm down. sorry for not being able to see geez.   
CG: SO DID YOU FIND IT?   
WD: no.   
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO YOU WENT SO FUCKING HIGH UP YOU WENT OUT OF THE CAMERA RANGE.   
WD: what i mean is no. i could not find it.   
CG: GODDAMN YOU ARE SO FUCKING USELESS. LOOK, I'LL JUST VIEW YOUR FUTURE FUCKING SELF AND SEE IF SHE FINDS IT.   
CG: AND HOLY SHIT YOU ACTUALLY DO. IN FIVE FUCKING HOURS! WE DON'T HAVE THAT LONG.   
CG: THIS GOES AGAINST EVERY BONE IN MY BODY BUT I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHERE IT IS.   
WD: every bone?  
CG: OKAY, NO, NOT EVERY BONE. JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP.   
CG: IT TURNS OUT IT'S NOT ACTUALLY IN THE VILLAGE, IT'S WAY OUT IN THAT WEIRD SILVER FIELD OF YOURS.   
WD: because that really explains a lot. all the fields are silver and are made of titanium, dumbass.   
CG: SHUT UP.   
CG: JUST FLY EAST AND YOU'LL FIND IT. IT'S LOCATED ABOVE A HOLE IN THE GROUND.   
WD: wow. best directions ever.   
WD: 'it's located in the east field above a hole in the ground.' very nice.   
CG: SHUT UP.   
WD: hehe.   
CG: WHAT'S SO FUCKING FUNNY?   
WD: i don't know. everything.   
CG: MIND USING A LITTLE MORE DETAIL?   
WD: fine. i find it funny how you're just telling me to shut up and not insulting me (as much as normal anyway). And how you're helping ME out and not anybody else. Have you even talked to anybody else?   
CG: WELL, NO.   
WD: why are you even helping me anyway? Do you pity me or something?   
CG: EXCUSE ME WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THERE'S NO WAY I'D PITY A FUCKING HUMAN THAT'S JUST FUCKING RIDICULOUS GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU GO ACCUSING SOMEONE OF THAT. IT'S NAUSEATING THAT YOU WOULD EVEN SUGGEST SOMETHING LIKE THAT YOU STUPID LITTLE WIGGLER  
WD: karkat, karkat that is not what i meant, please for the love of god shut up. i didn't mean your troll version of pity, i meant did you feel some sort of sympathy for me because you think i'd be lost without you.   
CG: I MEAN THAT IS THE WORST FUCKING THOUGHT IN THE HISTORY IN HORRIFIC THOUGHTS. WHY WOULD YOU EVEN SUGGEST SUCH A PUTRID FUCKING THING YOU DUMB LITTLE NOOKWHIFF  
WD: karkat you're babbling.  
CG: I MEAN THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY I WOULD PITY A FUCKING HUMAN. ESPECIALLY THE LIKES OF YOU SHUT UP JUST SHUT UP AND DON'T SAY ANYTHING ELSE I FUCKING HATE YOU.   
WD: KARKAT. SHUT UP! YOU TOOK THAT THE WRONG FUCKING WAY!   
CG: OKAY FUCK. SHIT I... I AM BABBLING AREN'T I? WELL FUCK. I FORGOT YOU HUMANS DON'T HAVE THE SAME PITY AS US. SO SHIT, I GUESS I'M SORRY? FUCK, I'M A TOTAL ASSHOLE. I AM THE BIGGEST ASSHOLE OF ALL THE ASSHOLES. IT'S ME.   
WD: karkat, just shut up.   
CG: THAT'S PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA. 

I click the button on the side of the glasses and sigh heavily, opening the wings again and taking off towards the sky, heading east of the village. I eventually come to the end, there's a large, silver gate that i fly over, i look back over my shoulder and flick my hand in a small wave to the staring consorts, and then fly off. I travel high into the sky and search, scanning from left to right from one side of the field to the other. 

An hour drags by and i rub my eye behind the glasses, i'm getting a bit tired, flying wears you out. But just as i was about to stop and give up, there's a luminous blue glow on the ground far below, i fall down towards it. It becomes larger and larger the closer i get to it, and when i land (not as clumsily this time, hey, practice makes perfect) i watch the slow, spinning hypnotizing circle rotate, and just for a moment it seems as though it flashes a faint image of an entirely different place. It was full of mountains with carvings in them, pillars, stairs, doorways and such. it was also very dark.

I was taking it to be Alec's land. 

It was also covered by imps. 

So i take my bat out and jumps right down, it turns out it was covering a hole in the ground, huh.

I open my wings and catch myself before i can fall to my death. I land on the hard desert ground, dust pluming up around me and i cough, then take my bat from my sylladex and start beating the crap out of the imps. After i had accomplished that job, i walk inside Alec's house and my jaw hits the ground. It's huge. and fancy. and posh. damn this guy must be rich. I look around and see Alec half slumped on a huge ass couch and half on the floor, his laptop dumped on the floor and red tinted shades falling half off his face. I do the sensible thing and nudge him with my foot, then frown when he doesn't even flinch. He has drool dripping from his mouth and i can't help but snicker. I look around, there is nothing else to do so i sit down and pull out my laptop. 

Just to find William falling to his death. 

My eyes shoot wide open and i quickly set to work. I grab Raine's bed and set it out under where he would hit the ground, and watch him flail about, closing his eyes tight. But as i watch, a black force begins to wrap around him and it along with William disappears. But then i look back at the bed and he's lying there, glasses falling down his forehead. He readjusts them and scratches his head, and then laughs. 

I sigh in relief, thank god he's alright. He was saved by space, it's a good thing he's a space player then. I hear Alec rustle next to me and he snaps up, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth and readjusting his glasses and pulling himself back on the couch. Then he notices me and nearly falls back off the couch, it makes me laugh.  
"Oh, hi Riana." I laugh again when he pronounces my name wrong.  
"What's so funny?" He furrows his eyebrows, he looks cute when he does that. Wait. forget i said that.  
"You pronounced my name wrong."  
"What, really? how do you say it then?"  
"It's Ri-uh-na, not Ri-ah-na."  
"Oh. Sorry. don't kill me." I laugh again and he lets a smile crack on his face.  
"I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years. damn it's gonna take a while to get used to."  
"Watevs."  
"Wait, you actually say that in person? I thought that was just a thing you said while virtually speaking."  
"Nuh. this is how i always speak."  
"Cool."  
"Hey, just wondering, but are you from Canada or something? Because you've got a Canadian accent."  
"Yep."  
"Huh. So, how was your dream? Derse seems pretty cool don't you think?"  
"Yeah. what, did you perve on me while i slept or something." I punch his shoulder and he rubs it,  
"Ow, that actually hurt."  
"It was supposed to, dumbass." He pokes his tongue out, and i do the completely mature thing and poke mine back out at him.  
"so, why haven't you gone through your gate yet? William's built up to it."  
"I know, i thought i'd hang around here for a bit, alchemise some more shit."  
"well, whatever, i'm not hanging around. I'm going to have to get to Raine's land before Jack gets there." I stand up and he gives me a confused look.  
"Wait, what?"  
"Jack's going to be at LOBAC any minute now. we gotta be there to help them."  
"Shit really?"  
"Yes! I wouldn't lie about that you idiot. I am actually genuinely fucking scared for them, i mean they could die!"  
"I know but..."  
"So are you coming or what?"  
"I guess i have no choice." I nod and he stands up, captchaloguing his laptop and we walk outside. He begins climbing and i smack my head.  
"Wait. So it's easier on the both of us, i'm gonna make you a pair of wings just like mine."  
"Shit that would be helpful."

We go through the process of creating a pair of bat wings for him, except his turns out red, then we take off into the sky.  
The ring dings as we pass on through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha karkat shut up
> 
> I now also ship riana/karkat
> 
> EDIT: oh my gog i just realised i put 'began pestering' instead of 'began trolling' *falls over and dies*
> 
> and oh my fucking god i just realised i fucked this up, karkat said her gate was in the sky and i said it was in the ground what the fuck


	12. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Riana has a major breakthrough,

The first thing we encounter when we exit from the gate is a minor dust storm, we are still safe to walk but we can't see a single thing (and it being dark just makes the situation worse.) Flying is completely out of the question. I have to hold onto my glasses so they don't blow off my face. Speaking of which,

CG: SO YOU ACTUALLY MANAGED TO WAKE THE FUCKASS UP?   
CG: CONGRATULATIONS.   
WD: well thank you, that means a lot coming from you.   
CG: WHATEVER.   
CG: BUT I BELIEVE YOU HAVE A BIGGER PROBLEM ON YOU HANDS RIGHT NOW.   
WD: oh, you think? i would never have guessed.   
WD: now shut the fuck up and let me concentrate on fucking WALKING you fuckface. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] ceased being trolled by carcinoGeneticist [CG]  at ??:?? --

Okay, so maybe that was bit harsh, he was only trying to help after all. But couldn't he see i was trying to concentrate? And now... oh look, somebody else is trying to troll me. 

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling wakingDragons [WD]  \--

GA: Excuse Me Young Homo Sapien, But I Believe You Owe My Dear Friend An Apology For That Insulting Comment You Previously Stated.   
GA: It Is Incredibly Rude And Insulting To Ones Facial Appearance.   
WD: Kanaya, if you hadn't noticed HE calls everyone fuckface, fuckass and need i go on? in fact you should be the one telling HIM to apologise, not me.   
GA: I Am Attempting To Be A Reasonable Being Here. And It Is In Karkats Nature To Use Such Inappropriate Language. It Was How He Was Raised, And I Would Advise You Not To Question Such Things.   
WD: who says it's not in MY nature to say shit like that?   
GA: I Have Scrutinized You Through Your Entire Journey, And I Can Express To You That It Is Not In Your Nature To Use Harsh Comments Such As One Previously Stated By Yourself To My Moirail.   
WD: wait, karkat's your moirail?   
GA: Indeed. Do You Question Such Deeds?   
WD: no but, i thought Vriska was your Moirail?   
GA: We Have Never Once Indulged In Such Acts. In Fact I Would Not Even Consider Any Pale Exploits With Her.   
GA: But We Are Beginning To Fall Off Topic.   
GA: I Insist That You Apologize To My Moirail Immediately.   
WD: and if i don't?   
GA: I Will Have To Find A Way To Take Drastic Action.   
WD: through your chainsaw, right?   
GA: Through My Chainsaw, Yes.   
WD: I'm sorry, but i just can't find you threatening at all, you just seem to, i don't know, NEAT to be able to kill anyone.   
GA: So You Are Doubting My Abilities?   
WD: oh, no no no no. definitely not. just... Kanaya, can you just leave me alone for at least an hour, i'm trying to save a friend here.   
GA: So Now You Are Running Away? Very Heroic.   
WD: do you not listen? I need to save a friend, two actually. and if you can't see, i'm already having trouble, and i don't need YOU or karkat to be bothering now. So if you wouldn't mind, kindly go fuck off.   
GA: Should I Accept That As An Insult? Because That Sounded Very Insulting.   
WD: no, what? no   
GA: When We Meet Human, You Should Be Very Cautious Around Me, I Just Might Have An Itching To Connect My Chainsaw To Your Middle. 

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling wakingDragons [WD]  at ??:?? --

WD: um, fuck. 

"Welp. i'm dead." I say and Alec looks and me strangely, furrowing his eyebrows and oh my god he should stop doing that he is so fucking cute even in the freaking dark.  
"Why?"  
"I just officially pissed off the rainbow drinker."  
"And now she wants to cut you in half?"  
"And now she wants to cut me in half."  
"Well, shit bro."  
"Ya think." 

We eventually break out of the dust storm and into a village that is obviously full of tombs instead of houses or huts. And It's calm, not a breath of wind.  
"The eye of the storm." Alec says and i nod.  
"Let's go." We spread both of our wings and take off, he chuckles a bit, at the sensation of flying probably. And then my glasses flash again and i moan out loud and click the button.

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG]  began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  \-- 

CG: HOLY SHIT I AM SO SORRY ABOUT KANAYA. SHE'S JUST TRYING TO STICK UP FOR ME AND, YES, I REALLY APPRECIATE HER FOR IT, BUT SHE KNOWS I CAN'T TAKE OFFENSE FROM SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS 'FUCKFACE.'   
WD: and now she wants to kill me.   
CG: AND NOW SHE WANTS TO FUCKING KILL YOU. SHE CAN BE SO FUCKING PSYCHO SOMETIMES, BUT I WON'T LET HER KILL YOU.   
WD: bluh, dude, whatever. there's no stopping her when she's got her chainsaw, if she wants to chop me in half, let her.   
CG: SAY WHAT? ARE YOU NOT THE LEAST BIT SCARED?   
WD: nah bro, i'm good.

Actually i feel like i'm about to have a freaking heart attack and i'm on the verge of hyperventilating. 

CG: WELL, OKAY.   
WD: bye Karkat.   
CG: YEAH, BYE. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG]  ceased trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

"Dude, are you okay, you look like you're about to have a panic attack." Alec says.  
"Yeah, yeah i'm okay."  
"You sure?"  
"I'm sure Alec!" I didn't mean to snap. He looks rather startled and taken aback and i hang my head.  
"I'm sorry Alec. It's just, today's been rather stressing, you know? I mean, the whole sBurb thing being real and all. i mean, just look at us, we're fucking _flying_ in a land full of _tombs,_ and we have sylladex's, and not to mention the trolls are _real._ And, you know what? John, Rose, Dave and Jade are probably real too! Everything else has become real! so why the fuck not! Heck, let Caliborn and Calliope and Lord fucking English be real and..." Alec and I both exchange glances, and simultaneously say,  
"Oh _shit_ " We were going to have to fight Lord English. Well shit.  
"We're screwed." Alec says and i sigh, suddenly everything Karkat said about me being the leader is shoved in my head, i feel as though i have to look after this team now. Just a sudden realisation dawning on me, and now i feel as though i have a tonne of bricks on my shoulders. 

We fly around for about twenty minutes in silence, just thinking about Lord English and how we're going to have to face him. But a look of almost hope crosses Alec's face.  
"We don't actually have to face him."  
"What?"  
"We don't have to face Lord English."  
"How did you draw that conclusion?"  
"The green sun. as long as we don't create the green sun we won't have to face him." Then it dawns on me too and i smile.  
"You're a fucking genius Alec."  
"I know." He smirks and i punch him in the shoulder again, not as hard this time, but he still rubs it.  
"Ow."  
"Wuss." He pokes his tongue out and i poke mine out at him. Then something catches my attention and i whip my head back around and see a glowing red circle up ahead and i point at it and he nods. We sit on top of the large mountainside tomb right below it and look up at it, i've noticed the patterns are different for each one.  
"Ready?" He asks.  
"Ready as i'll ever be." And we both leap up through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Hate. Writing. Kanaya. there's no doubt about it. why is she so hard to write? i just want to arghghghghghghgh


	13. 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry i'm so sucky at battle scenes.

Raine wakes from her golden dream to a loud thump outside her house, she goes out to investigate. She walks out into an illuminated area and finds William lying on her bed (which is out in the middle of the yard) laughing.  
"Whoa, what are you doing here?" She asks and William stops laughing and smiles at Raine.  
"Hi. You must be Raine. Right?"  
"Well, yeah. But you didn't answer my question."  
"I passed through my second gate, which leads to your land."  
"Uh huh."  
“So, this is LOBAC huh? Kind of really, fascinating, don’t you think?”  
“Yeah, I guess.”  
“You guess?”  
“Well, it’s not exactly, real, is it?”  
“What? What are you talking about of course it’s real.” She shakes her head and looks up at the colourful beams in the sky.  
“This isn’t real, none of it is.”  
“Why would you say that?”  
“It’s a dream; of course it’s not real.” He throws his head back and laughs.  
“Raine, I can assure you, this is not a dream.”  
“That’s what they all say.” She crosses her arms and frowns.  
“In fact, you’re probably not even real but just a figment of my imagination.”  
“Raine, I’m as real as they get.”  
“If it’s not a dream then prove it.”  
“If it were a dream, you wouldn’t actually know it was a dream, right?”  
“Well…”  
“And to have a dream in a dream is insane, don’t you think?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“You Prospit dreamed, right?”  
“You mean that strange golden planet where we could fly? Yeah.”  
“You don’t dream in dreams. In fact, you don’t even _sleep_ in dreams.”  
“Well, I guess so but… what the hell is that?” She points to the sky and William turns his head in the direction she was pointing, and his heart sinks. 

“Oh _shit_. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. Get your weapon out and run, run like you’ve never ran before.”  
“Why?”  
“We’re about to face one of the toughest enemies we’ll ever face. Our best chance is to run…” But before they know it he’s down on the ground on all fours with a blade in one hand (instead of paw) and his long fangs are bared. His nose and ears twitch, and his tail flicks from side to side, and he folds his long, straight, black wings along his back. Antlers poke out the top of his head and his nose is slightly stretched. But the most significant thing was the human face that mirrored William’s dad. William grabs his axe while Raine clutches her knife close. Jack snarls, an awkward expression of three mixed creatures crossing his face. William can’t help but feel immense hatred towards him, because he carries a modified version of his father’s face. Then he notices a small clock embedded in his chest that’s partly covered by a mix of feathers and fur. 

And then Jack leaps at them and William raises his axe in some sort of defence. They collide, Jack’s a lot stronger than he looks, (and damn he looks strong) he throws William backwards into the house, almost knocking him out in the process. He stands back up and charges towards him; before he fell asleep he had alchemised his weapon with one of his mothers’ many pieces of equipment she uses (she’s a builder.) Coincidentally, she just happened to have a jack hammer, (don’t ask him how she got it, he doesn’t even know) it was like his place was set up for this sort of thing. So obviously he combined the axe with the jack hammer, which made the blade jigger back and forth fast and repeatedly. He had also made another axe, combining what he had made with another normal axe. But the result was too heavy to wield.  
William firmly plants his feet on the ground when Jack rushes at him again, he makes the blade begin to shudder and when the two blades collide he’s shaken and slides back. Raine walks towards them and then begins to run, she supposes it doesn’t matter if she dies, she’ll just wake up anyway.

“Raine no!” William shouts, and before she could even think what she would do, there’s an elbow in her gut and she’s sent flying back.  
“Raine!” William shouts and spins back to Jack, all he can see is his father, and his blood boils. He begins swinging violently and recklessly at him, unsuccessfully managing to get any hits on him. Jack jumps in the air and slams his pawed foot into his chest, sending him back as well. He skids across the ground and his grip loosens on the axe. Jack walks up to Raine holding his blade in hand and looks at her, she’s scrambling away from him and a twisted looks crosses his face. William tightens his grip and attempts to stand; he pushes himself up with one hand and then makes his way over to them. He stands in front of Raine with his arms outspread, shit Jack’s about three quarters as tall as him even on four legs, William swallows thickly, sweat beading down his forehead. Jack snarls and shoves him in the chest, making him trip over backwards, he lets out a laugh and actually stands up on two legs. William pushes himself back up with his axe and grips it in two hands.

“Leave her alone.” He snarls, and stares into his like-fathers eyes. What came out of his mouth was inhuman, a growl cross voice, and even the humming of a bird.  
“And if I don’t?” He snaps and William flinches.  
“You’ll have to deal with me.” Jack cracks up laughing, a horrendous bark echoing throughout the darkness. While William has the chance, he swings his Jack Haxe (that’s actually what it’s called, a Jack Haxe) and he actually manages to get a decent slice on him. Jack stops laughing and snarls, letting out deep growl from his throat.  
“You’ll pay for that, kid.” He spits the last word and takes a swing at William who actually manages to block.  
“Kid, you can’t win, give up.”  
“No!” He’s getting mad now, that’s what his father used to say, those exact words. He leaps at Jack and swings his axe down and obviously Jack blocks. But a spray of blackness erupts from where the two blades connect, and within they hold galaxies, space is helping him out again. Jack leaps back and snarls, the black rips wrap around William and make him disappear. Jack pulls a face of confusion, a black rip splits behind him and William leaps out of it, oh so silently. He raises the axe above his head and Jack turns around, his eyes widen in disbelief. But his eyes flick behind him and he smirks. 

And just like that there’s a blade running through his middle. 

A scream rips for Raine's lips.

William falls to the ground; he sees a doppelganger of Jack, an exact double. He notices the clock on his chest; the hands on it are further forwards than this Jack. William doesn’t get to notice much else before his head hits the ground in an unconscious blur.

“William!” Raine shouts and stands up. She’s looking at two exact beings; she can’t spot a single difference.  
“What the fuck is going on?” They both turn to her, and the newest one disappears into thin air, leaving her with the original.  
“Night night little girl.” He puts emphasis on the last word, spitting it out, and before she can see anything she feels a sharp pain running through her chest. And that’s not all that’s running through her. Blood begins to flow from her chest, and the last thing she sees is the harsh smirk on the beast’s face.


	14. 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit short, of vwell
> 
> and yes, they found their way through Williams land rather quickly, i don't know.
> 
>  
> 
> I realise i haven't been writing Karkat right, but there is a reason for that. (You could probably guess)

We fall through Raine’s gate and catch ourselves not too much later. We land on the top level of the house and we both gasp, Jack is standing over two bodies and laughing a horrible, maniacal laugh. They both have red bleeding from them. No. No this just isn’t right. I let out a scream and Jack looks up at us, I fly down towards him with my bat out before Alec can stop me. Alec sighs and follows down after me. Jack jumps up towards us and I hold my bat next to my head, he holds his blade in the same position. Once they collide I jump back immediately, creating a vortex right where his blade is.

He actually looks genuinely shocked. 

He backs off immediately and flies around it instead, I fly towards him just as fast.  
“Riana, look out!” Alec calls and he pummels into me.  
“Hey watch it…” But then I see the reason, there’s a second Jack. But before either of the two Jacks could do anything, Alec flips out two hand guns and fires them, a ball of electricity firing from each barrel. Both the Jacks yelp out in pain and snarl, and just as Alec fires again they both disappear in a blinking flash. I watch as Alec's glasses flash and he presses a button on the side of his glasses.

My attention turns to the two bodies lying lifeless on the ground and i rush over to them. I start cursing heavily and look from one face to the next, biting my bottom lip. Does this mean i have to... oh great. I take William's too pale head in my hands and hold my breath, this was not going to be pleasant. Slowly i bend my head down to his face and grimace and slowly, oh so slowly, plant my lips on his. I hear Alec let out a slight chuckle and I flick my eyes towards him, puling my head back up i snarl at him.  
"What's so funny, huh?" I snap. I drop William's head, accidentally, and shuffle across to where Raine lies. I take her blond head in my palms, her face looks so shocked, and blood drips from her lips. 

Oh god this is going to be even harder.

I bend my neck and grimace once more, trying to keep the face pulling to a bare minimum and i shut my eyes tight.  
Turns out i don't have the guts to kiss my best friend.  
I hesitate and pull back, grimacing. I hear Alec sigh and feel his boot hit my shoulder, making me drop her. And as simply as that, Alec bends down and kisses her. I stare at him in shock, how was he able to do that so easily? He shoves Raine back off him and stands up, wiping her blood from his mouth and readjusts his sunglasses.  
"We should get going." He states, i shake my head.  
"Don't you think we should at least give them a proper burial?" He looks at each of their corpses and sighs.  
"I guess." 

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

CG: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME DOING THAT. IT'LL JUST BE A WASTE OF YOUR TIME AND EFFORT.   
WD: well, unlike SOME people, i am a decent being who just wants their friends to rest in peace. Is that okay with you?   
CG: ARE YOU SAYING I'M NOT DECENT?   
WD: yes. 

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA]  began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  at ??:?? -- 

GA: Excuse Me.   
WD: oh my god, what, are you looking over his shoulder or something?   
GA: That Is Precisely What I Am Doing.   
WD: oh my god just fuck off. 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  ceased being trolled by grimAuxiliatrix [GA]  \-- 

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA]  began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  \-- 

GA: No. I Don't Think I Shall Engage In Such Ludicrous Actions. Now, I Believe You Owe My Moirail An Apology? 

WD: karkat, PLEASE tell your moirail to leave me the fuck alone.  
CG: BELIEVE ME, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO, BUT SHE INSISTS THAT YOU APOLOGISE TO ME. DON'T ASK ME THE FUCK WHY, IT'S NOT LIKE I GET OFFENDED AT SHIT LIKE THAT. 

GA: I Would Appreciate It If You Would Not Complain To Karkat, It Is Not Very Valiant Of You To Express Your Grieves Of Me Towards Him, Letting Him Protect You. You Are Truly Despicable.  
WD: oh my god shut UP. Do you ever shut your mouth for five fucking minutes?   
GA: My Mouth Shall Remain Open For The Remainder Of Your Human Life, Unless You Apologise To Karkat.  
WD: did it occur to you that he mightn't even really care whether i apologised or not? actually it seems to me that he doesn't WANT to be apologised to.  
GA: That Is Preposterous, Of Course He Would Want To Be Apologised To, Don't Be Ridiculous. 

WD: Karkat tell Kanaya you don't want to be apologised to.   
CG: I'VE TRIED, SHE WON'T LISTEN.   
CG: JUST IGNORE HER.   
WD: or better yet. 

wakingDragons  [WD]  blocked grimAuxiliatrix  [GA] 

CG: WHAT? WHAT DID YOU DO?   
CG: OH, NEVER MIND, SHE JUST TOLD ME.   
CG: HEY... NO. ARGHSDKMDVKLKDKDSVKL   
WD: ummmmm.   
CG: I Would Also Appreciate It If You Didn't Block Me.   
CG: It Is Extremely Rude.   
WD: oh my god. that's it. 

I take the sunglasses off and shove them in my pocket and sigh deeply. 

We would have given William and Raine a burial, if there were some shovels lying around. But no. Instead i shift two beds into Raine's basement using the computer and we drag them on one each, covering their faces with the blanket. I try my best not to cry, i really do, but i don't think any funeral can go without a tear being shed. Alec puts an arm around my shoulder and says,  
"Come on, let's get out of here." I nod and we walk back out the door, taking off towards the gate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also i hate writing Kanaya, partly because of the fact that i CAN'T, and just because she's got a huge ass vocabulary and i just asdfghjkl


	15. 15

Raine sits up straight in her bed, panting hard and heart racing twenty miles an hour, she clutches at her chest where she thinks the blade should be, but finds nothing. She pats at herself, not a hole, not any blood, not even any pain. She stares at her hands and then at the room around her, she sighs. She's back on Prospit. She peels the covers off her and plant her feet on the ground, smoothing her dress out and standing up. She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and rubs her eye with the back of her thumb, she shuffles forwards and looks out the window.

She finds herself face to face with a floating William. 

"Whoa, what are you doing here?" She asks.  
"Waiting for you to wake up." He states plainly.  
"Why?" He doesn't answer and instead holds out his hand. She hesitantly takes it and William tugs her out the window, Raine gasps and William catches her before she falls. She regains her balance and he leads her down to the ground, her hand still in his. Their toes gently touch the solid gold streets and William drops his grip on her hand, they begin casually strolling down the street, Raine shoving her hands in her gown pockets and looks down to the ground.  
"So." She mutters.  
"So." He responded. They pass a few pale Carapaces who give them a stunned glance, and then carry on with where they were headed. Their feet make no sound as they sweep across Prospit's moon, their slippers cushioning each and every step. 

And then William breaks out with,  
"They kissed us you know." Raine nearly falls over backwards at his remark, but she does stop and almost flails her arms in the air.  
" _What?_ " She shouts, turning all heads towards her.  
"They would have had to of kissed us, if we're alive, living on Prospit now."  
"Why?"  
"Because, we died and if they didn't within like five minutes we wouldn't be alive here. We'd be dead. Walking the dream bubbles."  
"The dream bubbles? What are they."  
"You'll see, you'll see." She groans and drops her head, annoyed that no one is explaining things to her. After a while of walking a look of concern gradually begins to cross William's face, and he mutters something to himself, then curses.  
"Shit."  
"What?"  
"Mm, never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway. actually it would probably confuse you even further."  
"Then why don't you just explain it to me so i _can_ understand?" He looks at her and raises an eyebrow.  
"Universe frogs."  
"What?"  
"Exactly."  
"No, i can remember Riana saying something about the universe being a frog or something like that. Total nonsense."  
"Heh." Raine just rolls her eyes and they continue walking. She begins to twiddle her thumbs, scuffing her slippers on the golden pavement and then sighs.  
"Are they going to be alright? Riana and Alec?"  
"I don't know, i really don't..." He's interrupted by a scream and they both turn around to the source. Both their jaws drop when they see why the Carapace was screaming. 

Jack was standing there, blade in hand.

With a leap and a swing, he takes off three heads all at once and the others around them scream. He begins stalking towards Raine and William and the rest of the Carapaces. William grab Raine's wrist and shouts,  
"Come on!" And they begin running the way they were previously headed. They run as fast as their legs will carry them, shoving carapaces out of the way to get past, William running with slow, long strides and Raine traveling with short, quick steps. An explosion of red blasts past them, this wasn't like blood red, this was like bolts of horizontal lightning.  
"This way!" William shouts and they make a sharp left turn. By now they were both panting hard, but they didn't dare stop. Now their feet do make some muffled sounds on the ground as they pound on the pavement. They make a right and up an alley, it begins to slope uphill and into another open street. Another right and they run until they reach the end of it. William pulls Raine next to a wall beside him, under a bridge which supplies them with a shadow. He peers around the corner, chest heaving, he can see the red lightning streak in the air and shiver and shake Prospit. 

Then Raine screams and William swings his head back around, and bolts in the direction they just came from when he sees a second Jack.  
"Can't... we just... fly?" Raine asks between pants and William shakes his head.  
"We'll draw too much attention. We don't want anymore Jacks coming after uaaaarrghs." He skids to a stop and they bolt to the left, a third Jack. He drags Raine into another alley and ran as fast as they could up it, but it's blocked by the second Jack (of course they don't know that this is the same Jack.) They try turning back but that end is also block by the previous one. They would have flown up, but the top is blocked by a short bridge. William pulls Raine to the left just in time before a red mile passes through the wall. The Jack closest to them approaches on all four legs, his hideous face curling up in a horrid snarl, holding his sword out towards them. _Shit shit shit shit,_ were the words passing through William's mind. A realisation passes over Raine. 

They were going to die, again. 

William stands in front of Raine with his arms outstretched, if he were to be able to do anything before he died, he wished he could have at least have protected Raine for another minute. His blood begins to boil, anger washing over him, how _dare_ Jack take the lives of innocents, it just pisses him right the fuck off. He lets a snarl form on his face, and his fists begin to clench. And black gashes in the air begin to rip open, it begins to wrap around the two of them in a cylinder, it shoots in the air and through the bridge, and they're surrounded in a mass of stars and darkness. 

"What's going on?" Raine asks. William shakes his head, hushing her. When the stars disappear, they're replaced by further darkness, with only a dim, dim glow with no apparent source. But they find themselves on two hard slabs. William looks around him, there are actually many, many slabs all situated next to each other in a spiraling circle, his jaw drops once more. These must be the other players' crypt beds, there must be a heck of a lot of other players, and these are just Prospit's. He wonders why he hasn't met any of them yet.  
"Wow, where are we?" Raine asks in an awed whisper.  
"We're at the center of Prospit's moon." Then he notices she is closer to the middle of the large spiral of beds, he is further out, but they are still close enough to hear each others' whispers. William looks down, he's standing on a black slab, seven curved lines creating a circle painted in the middle of it. He looks over to Raine's and sees and orange slab, her golden slippers standing on a yellow sun. 

Both of their heads snap up when they hear a crackling and loud clap. Debris begins to fall from very high up, golden debris. And then there's a blinding flash of red. Miles have broken their way through Prospit's crust and is now cracking around freely within the moon, they both become frantic.  
"We're going to die, aren't we William?" Raine asks. William bites his cheek and takes a deep breath, sitting down on the slab.  
"Sort of." Raine looks over to him and notices that he's sitting down, she follows his league and gives him a confused look.  
"What do you mean?"  
"You'll see." 

The red miles begin pouring in in heavier, more lightning cracking throughout the moon, and it takes out some of the crypt beds. A mile passes so close to William's head it made him fall down onto the slab. Soon the entire center of the moon is surrounded by red miles, and there was nothing either of them could do to stop them from shooting through them in synchronisation. 

And then they begin to rise mere seconds after. 

Blood flows from each of their bodies, onto their crypt beds, a force pulls them up and blood begins to drip off their corpses. William's golden suit and Raine's dress begin to glow white, and soon their both engulfed in white. They both rise, their eyes scanning their new outfits. William's long hood touches the bed below him, even though he's floating three feet in the air. Long bell-bottom trousers whipping around his ankles, red shoes pulled on his feet and his cape barely passes his shoulder blades. An average black tee-shirt with the same symbol that paints the crypt bed below him has been emblazoned on his chest. He looks over to Raine, her deep orange hood reaches down just below her shoulders, a long sleeved shirt with two flaps falling down to her ankles, blue nursing shoes and orange pants tucked into bandage like stockings. The light symbol adorned on her chest. 

She looks at William with a confident look on her face.  
"I think i understand now." William nods, looking at the Maid of Light with an equally confident look.  
"Let's go fuck some shit up." William smirks and Raine smirks back. And with that final remark, the Heir transports them back to the outside of Prospit's moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooh yeah. FINALLY
> 
> *Edit* I literally think this is one of my favourite chapters to be honest.


	16. 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, i had homework. *falls over and dies*
> 
> And also, i realised that trollian doesn't use times or watevs.

“Riana, look out!” Alec calls as he pummels into Riana.  
“Hey, watch it…” She snarls but then notices the reasoning behind his actions. There was a second Jack. But before Riana could react, Alec pulls his modified guns from his sylladex, firing a shocking ball of electricity towards the two of them, making them yelp out in pain and disappearing with a zap. The glasses in front of Alec’s eyes flash and he presses the button on the side. 

\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  began trolling redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  \-- 

AA: c0ngratulati0ns.   
AA: y0u have n0w 0fficially d00med a timeline.   
RH: what how?   
AA: y0u just chased jack 0ff int0 a perfectly healthy timeline, and he is destined t0 d00m it.   
RH: so technically I don’t doom it, Jack does.   
AA: yes but it is y0ur fault that he will d00m it.   
RH: if you had just told me how it would have been doomed beforehand, maybe this crisis could have been averted.   
AA: imp0ssible.   
RH: nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it.   
AA: y0u truly think s0?   
RH: yes.   
AA: y0u are full 0f shit.   
RH: excuse me?   
AA: what, y0u can’t handle a min0r insult?   
AA: shame.   
RH: what no I can handle whatever shit you throw at me. It’s just I never took you for the swearing type.   
AA: this is 0nly y0ur third c0nversati0n with me, h0w c0uld y0u judge what my mannerisms are?   
RH: I have my ways.   
AA: fine.   
AA: this c0nversati0n is 0ver. 

\-- apocalypseArisen  [AA]  ceased trolling redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  \-- 

Alec turns his concentration back to Riana and nearly cracks up laughing when he sees her kissing William. Riana whips her head up and gives him an evil snarl.  
“What’s so funny, huh?” she snaps and William’s head drops from her hands, then she shuffles over to Raine. Alec rolls his eyes behind his sunnies when she is unable to kiss her, and he kicks Riana out of the way and without even really thinking he kisses her without the slightest of hesitation, then drops her head.  
“We should get going.” He says and Riana shakes her head.  
“Don’t you think we should at least give them a proper burial?” His eyes flick from William to Raine and sighs.  
“I guess.” 

The tinted glasses in front of Riana flash and she answers the troll. Whilst she is arguing with them, Alec begins searching around for a shovel but fails to find one. He sighs again, taking his sun glasses off and rubbing them with his sleeve and replacing them on his nose, he walks back around to Riana who had shoved her own glasses in her pocket. He realises this is actually the first time he’s seen them, they’re sea blue and he blinks twice then shakes his head, walking back over to her. 

After they had failed to give the two a burial, they just decided to sit them on some beds and pull a sheet over their heads, and then take off towards the gate.

//

We decide to wander around LOBAC for a while, kind of feeling rather depressed, and we must have looked like it (well me anyway) because an iguana walked up to us with big sad eyes.  
“Are you okay, stranger?” He asks and I give him a sad smile.  
“I’m fine.” I lie and we continue walking through the consort village, leaving the iguana staring after us. I sigh and Alec drapes an arm over my shoulders and I give him a strange look.  
“They’ll be okay.” He says and I shake my head.  
“You don’t know that.”  
“Trust me, I can just tell.” I give him a confused look but shake my head, i don't know whether he's just trying to comfort me or actually telling the truth. We find a bench to sit down on, i lean my face on my hand and sigh, Alec crosses his arms, and i think without actually realising, stares at me.  
"What?" I ask and look at him quizzically.  
"Oh, uh, nothing." He turns the other way far enough to think i can't see him blush, but i can, and i just snort. I look up at the rainbow beams in the sky, watching them dance and weave through the clouds. If i were poetic i would say something like it was like a ballet of colours or some shit, but i'm not poetic. And then something disrupts the ballet... shit, i mean the dancing lights, something abnormal. Like a slit in the air, opening a portal into space, that's what it looked like anyway. And then two silhouetted figures step through it, and the tear seals back up. A small ball of light forms in one of the figures' hands, and a smile splits across my face when i recognise her. I literally leap into the air and open the wings, and unintentionally ram into her.

"Raine, William, you're alright!" 

She looks shocked, maybe that's because of the reason i've never actually hugged her before, so i back off and and hug William instead.  
"Hi, Riana." He actually pronounces my name right. i take a step back (figuratively as we're in the air) and analyse them, William in this casual looking attire with a long ass hood and a small cape, and Raine in almost a dress with long pants tucked into bandage like socks, and then with blue nursing shoes.  
"Maid of Light and Heir of Space, eh?" Alec says floating up and William smiles.  
"Hi Alec."  
"Hey man." He says and offers him a fist and William bumps it kind of hesitantly. 

"So. wings, huh?" William asks, raising an eyebrow.  
"Yeah." Both Alec and I say.  
"What is with that anyway?" Raine asks.  
"Alchemised a few things." It wasn't exactly a lie.  
"So, we ready to go? Or we gonna hang around LOBAC a while longer?" Alec asks and we all exchange glances. William holds his hand out and with one finger runs a line through the air and it begins to rip.  
"I think it would be wise to continue as fast as we can." He says and we all nod. First Raine steps into the rift, then Alec, me and finally William. It closes behind us and opens to the gate, leading back to Land of Fields and Titanium, and the four of us enter together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the change in POV i'd just prefer to write in first person when i can, but if i change character i always write in third i don't know why i just do v_v
> 
> bluh


	17. 17

When we pass through the gate, we all expect to drop down onto the platform below the first gate, but it seems Alec had been working. We catch ourselves anyhow and I glance at him, he shrugs.  
"I've been busy, okay?" By the expression he pulls i can tell he rolled his eyes behind his glasses. I drop to the ground below and everybody calls out to me  
"where are you going?" They all ask and i shout back at them  
"I'll be back! I'm just gonna get a few things sorted!" As in make a new weapon. I have something in mind, i just need to find the right items. Well, there really is only one thing i need. I open the glass door and find the bookshelf, i look to the top and smile, standing on tip-toes i grab the gloves. I go through the normal process, combinfing the gloves and the stange thing Alec sent me. 

I think you can guess what it made.

I pull the gloves on, they've turned black with a red spiral on the top of each hand. I join the others once more and William looks at Raine,  
"Hold on." He says and holds a hand out, a small black sphere forms and then disappears with a zap, leaving a pair of glasses and a necklace in his hand.  
"We might want our means of communication back." He says and passes Raine the necklace, which she then clips back around her neck and nods at him as he switches glasses.  
Speaking of communication.

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG] began trolling wakingDragons[WD]  \--

CG: GOOD EVENING PATHETIC EARTH HUMAN.   
CG: THIS IS YOUR GOD SPEAKING   
WD: oh god no.   
CG: AND AS YOUR GOD, YOU WILL DO AS I SAY. BOW BEFORE ME PATHETIC EARTH HUMAN.   
WD: you mean bow before your screen.   
WD: and no i won't.   
CG: I AM YOUR GOD, YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAND.   
WD: oh my god Karkat shut the fuck up.   
CG: WHOA HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW MY NAME.   
WD: god dammit Karkat why are you choosing NOW as our first conversation?  
WD: i mean, if you were a sensible and SMART guy you would have started where i first entered.   
WD: god damn you're stupid sometimes.   
CG: EARTH HUMAN, I DEMAND TO KNOW HOW YOU KNOW MY NAME.   
WD: karkat, although this may be the first time you've talked to me, it's like the eighth or something.  
CG: PREPOSTEROUS.  
WD: no, seriously, here, I’ll paste one of our conversations. 

wakingDragons  [WD] sent carcinoGeneticst  [CG] the file thisismythirdconversationwithyou 

CG: THIS DOESN’T FUCKING SOUND LIKE ME.   
WD: well it’s not like I could make something up that quick.   
CG: I DON’T FUCKING BELIEVE YOU. 

But wait it gets better.

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG] began trolling wakingDragons[WD] \--

CG: OH MY FUCKING GOG JUST IGNORE PAST ME, HE’S A FUCKING NOOKWHIFF AND DOESN’T KNOW FUCK ALL.   
WD: reminds me of somebody else I know  
WD: oh shit, I don’t want to offend your ‘moirail’ so I guess I better say I’m joking.   
CG: I DON’T FUCKING CARE, KANAYA IS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN, ACTUALLY I’VE GOT NOT IDEA WHERE SHE WENT.  
WD: ugh, hold on. 

CG: AS YOUR GOD I DEMAND THAT YOU ANSWER ME IMMEDIATELY.   
CG: ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTENING YOU BULGELICKER.  
CG: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO?   
WD: future you.   
CG: OH MY GOG FUCK HIM. STOP LISTENING TO HIM, HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK HE’S SAYING I DEMAND YOU STOP LISTENING TO HIM NOW.   
WD: funny, he just said the same thing to me about you, to stop listening to you.   
WD: and you know what? Because he’s older and, you know, in the future (for you but probably in the present for me I don’t know how this shit works but watevs) I think I’ll listen to him.   
WD: you’ll understand, sooner or later.   
WD: bye.   
CG: HEY I’M NOT DONE TALKING TO YOU YET! 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  ceased being trolled by carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  \--

WD: alright, that’s that taken care of.   
CG: GOOD FOR YOU, I TOLD YOU PAST ME IS A FUCKING TAINT CHAFE.   
WD: well, THAT one anyway.   
CG: NO, ALL OF THEM ARE. PAST ME AND FUTURE ME   
WD: Karkat, not all, uh, yous are douche’s, actually, some of you are actually pretty decent people.   
WD: or trolls whatever.   
CG: ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLY SOMETHING HERE?   
WD: only if you think I’m implying something.   
WD: well? Do you think I’m implying something?   
CG: WOULD YOU STOP WITH YOUR WEIRD RIDDLES. YOU’RE STARING TO SOUND A LOT LIKE FUCKING TEREZI.   
CG: UH, DO YOU KNOW WHO TEREZI IS?   
WD: yes.   
WD: and they weren’t riddles, I was simply asking something.   
CG: JEGUS FUCKING CHRIST, IS THERE ANYTHING OR ONE YOU DON’T KNOW   
WD: of course I don’t know everything, I’m not fucking Einstein.   
CG: WHO’S EINSTEIN?   
WD: er, just some awesomely smart human dude.   
WD: who died of old age I think I can never remember I hate everything history.   
WD: speaking of age, there’s something that’s been plaguing on my mind for a while.   
CG: WHAT?   
WD: Karkat how old are you?   
CG: EIGHT   
WD: oh, okay.   
CG: WHY HOW OLD ARE YOU? 

It takes me a moment to reply with what the Alternian answer would be. 

WD: eight and a half.   
WD: or what earthlings call it, seventeen years.   
CG: AND A YEAR BEING?   
WD: it’s like half a sweep, twelve months to be precise.   
CG: OKAY.   
CG: WHY ARE YOU EVEN ASKING MY AGE ANYWAY?   
WD: I was just curious is all.   
CG: OKAY, ASIDE FROM THAT MANOR, I THINK YOU SHOULD BE GOING THROUGH YOUR GATE NOW, YOUR FRIENDS ARE LOOKING VERY IM FUCKING PATIENT.   
WD: oh yeah, that’s probably a good idea.   
WD: by karkat.   
CG: YEAH BYE. 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  ceased pestering CarcinoGeneticist  [CG]  \--


	18. 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> where i feel so fucking sorry for Alec ;_;

As soon as we'd passed through the gate, we immediately knew something was very wrong. Alec began coughing, normally it would have been a cause for alarm, but normally the air isn't filled with smoke. Although he is coughing more than the rest of us. I gaze into the clouded air and squint as my eyes begin to water, there's a red hue in the horizon not too far from here.

**HEY.**

Oh no.

**HEY GIRL.**

Oh hell no.

**YES GIRL, YOU.**

Fuck my life. 

GIRL. WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING AROUND. DO SOMETHING. 

Ignoring the exile, i begin running towards the hue in the distance (deciding against flying as the closer to the ground you are the easier it is to breathe.) The others soon follow behind me, Alec still coughing but trying to act as though it's nothing, and normally i would be alarmed in altered circumstances but now it's one of the last things on my mind. There is no consort village this time; instead it's the titanium forest (apparently flammable) that is ablaze. 

And also filled with imps. 

But not just imps, Crude ogres, basilisks et cetera. I hold my gloves out in front of me, time to test these things out. Clenching my fist, i punch forwards into the air and believe it or not it sends a flaming vortex right towards the nearest imp, but i frown at how small it is. And then i realise it's not so much a vortex anymore, it's now a fricking bomb, don't ask me how the fuck it changed, maybe the gloves did something to it. And before i know it, Raine's in front of me holding her palm out in front of her, collecting light from around her into her hand. Shooting forwards, it explodes in a flash of light, and all but Raine cover our eyes so we're not blinded, but the imps did not have the brains to think of that. 

They fall to the ground in a dazed shock, paralysing them. We can see more imps and ogres and whatever gathering behind them, they seem to be unaffected by the light. I see William raise his hands up to his chest and large triangle shapes emerge from him and dodge around us, but pick up all the imps and make them all disappear, leaving a bunch of grist and shale and such behind. But again, more gather, (damn this forest must be full of them) And Alec just takes his gun and shoots them, a fucking shotgun how the hell did he get a hold of a fucking _shotgun_?

But by now he’s coughing frantically, and this makes my eyebrows furrow, I lay a hand on his shoulder and I can feel him shuddering violently. Raine runs ahead of the other three of us, seeming oblivious to Alec’s coughing fit.  
“Hey, are you okay?” I ask between slight coughs of my own. He nods and pounds his chest with his fist,  
“I’m… okay… I just… need to sit down.” With that he drops his shotgun and falls to the hard, titanium ground. His shades fall slightly down his nose and I can see his hazel eyes looking really desperate, and he lets out another fit of coughs.  
“Hey, what’s going on?” William asks as I kneel down next to Alec. His coughs are getting worse and his breathes are sharp, I nudge his shoulder slightly, I begin to panic.  
“Alec? Alec are you alright? Come on Alec, what’s going on?” I ask shouting at him. He answers with another coughing fit, sounding worse and worse the more he coughs. 

His back begins arching as he spits out more and more coughs, it looks extremely painful, by this time his glasses have fallen completely off his face and I can see tears begin to glisten in his eyes. I notice he tries to talk through coughs but can’t get anything out other than a choking whisper which is barely audible. He pushes his head back into the ground and coughs abnormally hard, oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. I’ve seen this before. 

“He’s having an asthma attack.” I state plainly, but my voice is filled with fear.  
“But, he’s going to be alright, right? He has to be okay, he, he just has to be he can’t leave us.” William asks pleadingly. I give him a sincere look; I can feel my eyes beginning to tear up as I slightly shake my head.  
“William, William just look at him and tell me, tell me he is not dying.” There’s a heartbroken look on his face and my voice cracks as tears run down my cheeks.

**WELL DO SOMETHING**

_What? What can I do?_

**DO THE HEALY THINGY.**

What?

**HEAL HIM.**

How? 

**HEAL HIM WITH YOUR WIND. SIMPLE.**

What?

**DO THE HEALY WIND THING. HEAL HIM WITH YOUR WIND. HE CAN’T BREATHE PROPERLY, SO HEAL HIM WITH YOUR BREATH THING.**

_I don’t know how to do that though._

**DO THE HEALY THING DUMB GIRL.**

Insults don't do anything for me now, i'm used to them. Ignoring the exile once more i turn to face William who's looking strangely at me, but then his focus returns to Alec, his chest is barely even rising and falling anymore and he's no longer conscious. Wheezes still escapes his throat though. I furrow my eyebrows and bite my lip, my eyes flicking from side to side across the ground. Then my head snaps up and i face William again. 

"Take me to his quest bed."

"What?" William asks still shaking out of his shock.  
"Take me to his quest bed."  
"But..."  
"William, _please_."   
"Uh... okay." He holds his hand forwards and runs his finger through the air, creating a rip. Tentacle like darkness begins to escape it and it wraps around both me and Alec. The next thing i know we're a world away on LOTAS, but instead of being high in the air on a pillar or something like i thought we'd be, we're deep underground in tomb, Alec's quest bed lying in the middle of the floor. I push him onto the slab and sit down next to him, his chest has basically stopped moving. Then i realize i have his glasses in my hand, i slide them back on his face and put my arms on the rock next to him, my forehead on my arms. 

Tears fall down my cheeks in rivers and catch in my glasses that have slowly fallen down my face. I rub the tears away with my sleeve and then resume my position. I must have fallen asleep there, because i wake up on Derse and find Alec staring in at me through my window. Slowly my brain begins to process what has happened back on our planets and i leap out of my bed and wrap my arms around his neck, crying onto his shoulder. He pats my back and sighs,  
"It's okay. I'll be alright." He whispers and i shake my head.  
"Why didn't you tell us you had asthma Alec?"  
"I didn't want to worry you."  
"it wouldn't have worried me, i live... lived with someone who had asthma and... oh god." My head snaps up thinking about my little brother, what if he has an attack because of all this smoke and he hasn't got his inhaler he could be in trouble and oh god what if he's already dead oh god oh god oh god. 

Alec shakes my shoulders to snap me out of it and looks into my eyes through his shades,  
"Hey, are you alright? You're not going to faint on me are you? Hey, hey Riana snap out of it." I think i'm starting to hyperventilate, i'm breathing way faster than normal.  
"Hey. Hey. Riana, come back to me to faint on me come on now." He snaps his fingers in front of my face but i don't process it, i'm too busy stressing over my brother.  
" _Riana._ " I turn my attention back to Alec and my eyes are full of panic. But then his own widen in shock and he begins to shake and fade away.  
"Alec, w-what's happening?"  
"I... I don't..." But before he could finish his sentence he's disappeared with a zap. 

"Alec?!" I shout and search the room for him, even though i know he's not there.  
" _Alec?!_ " I'm basically screaming now. I throw myself out the window and search for him but he's nowhere to be found. But something else catches my attention and i look to my right, behind the tower. There are two more towers i hadn't noticed before. No, i swear they weren't there. I fly over to them, maybe Alec is alright, maybe i'm just overreacting but oh god what if he's not? I shake my head and force myself forwards, peering into the closest tower. There's a girl, she looks young, maybe thirteen years old? She has long, straight orange hair and she has a red headband over her hair. I take off and look into the other tower, this time it's a boy about the same age with shoulder length black hair and a scar running across his nose. 

I take off back to my own tower and sit down on my dream bed with my head in my hands. Everything is running through my head at that moment. Who were those people? Why didn't i see their tower before? Or did i and just not pay any attention? Where's Alec? Why did he disappear? Is he okay? Is my brother okay? Is he dead? if he's not he must be shit scared. Where on my planet did he end up? _What the fuck is even happening today?_ I curl back up on my bed thinking about this, and before i knew it i was back to sleep again. 

I snap my head up and see the lights on Alec's quest bed light up, the fauna have already started to gather. Moths, they are moths emerging from the small crevices on the wall. How did they even get down here? The lights light up one by one and a smile creeps onto my lips, that's where he went, he was teleported to his quest bed on Skaia (I think.)

**WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THE HEALY THING? YOU FAILED AT SAVING YOUR FRIEND.**

I snarl unintentionally and slam my fist into the ground. I didn't fail. I didn't fail. I didn't fucking fail. I made him god tier for fucks sakes. 

**YOU LET YOUR FRIEND DIE WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO THE HEALY THING YOU DUMB GIRL.**

"Fuck _off_! I did not fucking fail! I fucking saved him!" 

**WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HE'S DEAD. HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD. YOU FAILED BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T DO THE HEALY THING. I AM DISAPPOINTED.**

"Ugh! Shut _up_!" I shout into the air and stand up, slamming my fists downwards by my side. The air inside begins to blow in a circle, creating a small whirlwind which shoots upwards, through the ceiling and right into the sky above. It carry me up into the sky and my eyes widen at what i see. Who the fuck likes to _burn_ things so fucking much? Because a fire has literally engulfed the whole ground. But the top of the whirlwind that's keeping me aloft spreads across the sky, covering it in blue wind, it swoops down and puts out the entire fire. I'm lowered to the ground after a moment and i'm amazed at what i see, there's not even any charcoal remains. 

Suddenly a black rip appears in the air in front of me and i'm pulled back through it. I find myself back on LOFAT with William and Raine staring at me.  
"Well?" William asks and i smile slightly.  
"Is he alright?" Raine asks.  
"He'll be juuust fine. Trust me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know healy is not a word >_>
> 
> and damn some people like to burn things *glances left to right and slowly scuttles away*


	19. 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not actually quite sure how doom works, but the plot of it seems legitimate

They both sigh out in relief and smile.  
"Thank god." William says  
"So, i guess he's a god too now huh?" Raine asks and i nod.  
"Yeah." My heart kind of sinks when i realize that i'm the only one left who hasn't ascended.  
"Well, now that we are sure of that, i'm going to be heading back to my land." Both Raine and I look at him and ask simultaneously  
"Why?"  
"You know. My whole role of being a space player."  
"But. creating the genesis frog takes weeks remember?" I say, gathering that was what he meant.  
"It can't hurt to try."  
"Um, what's a genesis frog?" Raine asks.  
"Remember i kept talking about 'universe frogs'?" She nods and i nod back in confirmation that that was what we meant. I turn back to William, "Well, if you're going back to your land, could you take me back to mine? There's a few things i want to do."  
"Sure. Raine, can you come with me? I need you to set a few things up for me before i can start this."  
"Sure." 

The rip opens up to my house and i step out of it, waving goodbye to the other two before it closes back up. I stare up at the black, clouded sky, it's starting to rain again. I roll my eyes and then wince as the titanium rain begins thrumming on my head, i'm really going to need something for this. I already have an idea. I jog over to the pile of tin situated about twenty meters from our house, i knew this pile of shit would come in handy one day. 

Captchaloguing a piece i run back inside and grab an umbrella from atop of the gun cabinet, and then alchemise the two together. I open the tin umbrella and the titanium rattles on it, it's irritating but it'll suffice. I walk back around the other side of my house and stare up at the gates, getting ready to spread the wings. But just as i was about to take off, a glowing source appears next to me and i look over to it. Oh, it's the tigersprite, i probably should prototype it again, but that can wait. I leap into the air and fly up into the first gate once more, a different goal in mind.

It's actually really bugging me that i am the last to ascend.

I arrive at the same consort village and fly around before the alligators can nak at me. I stop right in the middle of the village and look around.  
"Nak nak nak nak nak!" I literally facepalm and turn to the alligator. Might as well try and get some information from them.  
"Oh my god oh my god nakka nak. did you hear? she's here she's here!"  
"Who's here?" I ask, already knowing the answer.  
"The sylph the sylph the sylph is here!" Yep, thought so. Although i'm vaguely surprised at the title. "It is only rumor, but i truly believe! And if i believe hard enough, the sylph will rescue us all from the slumbering one! Nak nak." I nod and continue forth, he's obviously just going to nak on about 'the sylph's' appearance, and therefore useless to me. I look up above the village and my lips turn up into a smile. I can't believe i didn't see it before, although it's quite in the distance, but still. I leap in the air and take off towards the large pillar standing high in the air. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling wakingDragons  [WD] \-- 

CG: FUCK ARE YOU ACTUALLY PLANNING AN ATTEMPT TO ASCEND?  
WD: well yeah.   
CG: FUCK NO. NO DON'T DO THAT.   
WD: and why the fuck not?   
CG: BECAUSE IT'LL FUCKING KILL YOU.   
WD: oh no shit.   
CG: NO, I MEAN YOU WON'T COME BACK. YOU'LL FUCKING DIE AND SPEND THE REST OF ETERNITY IN DREAM BUBBLES.   
WD: why?   
CG: BECAUSE YOUR DREAMSELF IS DEAD.   
WD: no she's not i was dreaming not fifteen minutes ago and i was very much alive.   
CG: A LOT OF THINGS CAN CHANGE IN FIFTEEN MINUTES.   
WD: not very convincing.   
CG: OH COME ON. WHY THE FUCK WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?   
WD: because you're probably just trying to trick me into not dying so you don't have to watch it happen.   
WD: well here's a tip for you, turn away from your screen.   
CG: NO LOOK YOU NOOKWHIFF... FUCKASS IF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WERE DIFFERENT I WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH YOU DYING.   
WD: well i'm glad to know you care.   
CG: SHUT UP I DO HAVE A FUCKING HEART YOU KNOW.   
CG: WAIT THAT WAS YOUR HUMAN SARCASM WASN'T IT?   
CG: FUCK.   
WD: i don't even know HOW i'm going to ascend yet, i certainly don't have the guts to kill myself.   
WD: ugh that's a horrible thought.   
CG: WELL THAT'S GOOD I GUESS.   
CG: BUT I REALLY NEED YOU NOT TO GO THROUGH WITH THIS.   
CG: YOUR TEAM NEEDS YOU TO LEAD THEM LIKE THE LEADER YOU ARE.   
WD: look, i keep telling you i'm not the leader!   
WD: i'll be the last to ascend to god tier for fucks sakes!   
CG: HEY. I NEVER ASCENDED AT ALL AND I WAS THE LEADER.   
CG: ALTHOUGH A COMPLETE FAILURE.   
CG: BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE FUCKING POINT!   
CG: I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO GET CULLED.   
WD: well it's not like there's anything you can do to stop me.   
WD: you won't disrupt my plans with your lies.   
WD: and besides didn't i block past you? How exactly are you trolling me?   
CG: SHENANIGANS ARE A BITCH.   
WD: well in any case. 

\-- wakingDragons[WD] ceased being trolled by carcinoGeneticist [CG] \-- 

Who does he think he is trying to foil my plans like that? I arrive at the bed and sit down on it, this giant ass pillar is actually quite similar to John's, except obviously it's made of titanium, and then there's the giant blue slab. I lay down on it and look up at the sky, it's stopped raining so i captchalogue the umbrella and close my eyes. Not before i see the black figure floating towards me, how coincidental. But before i can react my eyes have flung open as the sword is taken from my middle, and i fall limp on the cold hard slab. 

//

Alec finds himself floating in the air above the battlefield, looking into a cloud that shows a tomb. He's lying on his quest bed and Riana is there, mourning. And then he remembers he had an asthma attack and cursors out loud. It disappears shortly after and then he takes notice of his outfit. His dark gray hood falls partway down his back, an average green shirt which tightens at the sleeves, and puffy shorts. And the symbol of doom en crested on his chest. As the prince of doom, the first thing he does is fly out from the battlefield and towards a faraway Derse. She must be worried sick, him disappearing like that. But before he can fly entirely out of Skaia, he notices another cloud, and this time it shows Riana lying on her quest bed, bleeding more than she should be. 

It must be in the future, she decided to ascend and that's her problem. He takes off once more and arrives at Derse a few minutes later, he was flying extremely fast.  
But something's not right, something _really_ is not right. Because murdered carapaces aren't supposed to line the streets. And then he sees a swift black figure fly up to him and he swings around just in time to dodge Jack's blade. He holds his fists near his chest, a fighting stance, and ghostly black fire begins to emerge from them, they quite literally look like ghosts. When Jack goes to swing again, Alec grabs the blade, the black ghosts protecting his hand and he swings his other fist.

But Jack's leg kicks out and slams him in the chest, sending him flying back through the air. He shoots forwards and holds his fists out once more, ducking Jack's swing and slamming his fist under his chin. A ghostly black engulfs Jack and he snarls, and disappears into a different time. He takes off towards Riana's tower, noticing two others he never saw before but not actually caring. He stops at her window and gasps at what he sees. 

Another Jack just disappeared, leaving Riana's bloody corpse.

Without thinking he captchalogues her body, and taking off from Derse and heading back to the ring of their four lands. He doesn't return to his though, he flies straight to Riana's in an attempt to stop her from getting killed, but alas he was too late, she had passed through only mere minutes ago. He began cursing to himself repeatedly, and began being pummeled by rain. He creates a field of black ghostyness over the top of him, and then he notices Riana's sprite. It's fangs are bared in a snarl, looking as though it's going to pounce at him. And then he looks to the captchalogue card and then to the sprite, and then to the card again.  
 _Fuck it_ , and he throws her body into the sprite.

It prototypes in a mass of blue, he covers his eyes and the brightness. When he looks back at her, she's still snarling. He looks startled. Her fists clench, digging claws into her flesh and bleeding glowing blue blood, and she hisses and analyses her hand. But again she clasps it and before Alec knows it, her fist is in his face.  
"Ow, shit what was that for?" He gasps and Rianasprite literally roars.  
"You asshole! Do you know what you've _done_? Do you know how fucking _horrible_ this feels? Why the fuck did you _do_ this to me?" She grips his shirt and shakes him, snarling and hissing and growling.  
"Whoa, calm the fuck down, i saved your sorry little hide." she throws him back and he stumbles.  
"Everything is too fucking bright! Too fucking loud! Too fucking _real_! These eyes weren't meant for humans you fuckass! We weren't meant to see like this! Or smell like his or _live like this_!" He blinks and sighs.  
"Well i'm sorry but i didn't want you to die."  
"I was already fucking dead!"  
"Yeah well, you would have died again and for good if i didn't. Get the fuck over it and live with it for the next however many minutes or hours you have left."  
"What...?" And then just like that she erupts in another flash of blue. 

A hood falls three quarters of the way down her body, a deep blue. Another two shades of blue make up the body of the dress, yellow curved shoes floating up from the ground. And the breath symbol emblazoned on her chest. 

"Aw man come on, a _dress_? Ugh."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> riana you dumb fuck
> 
> but luckily Alec was there to save you, he's such a nice friend
> 
> (BTW i'm sorry for the whole copying this thing of animal dreamselfsprites, if that made any sense)


	20. 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you don't know how LONG i've been looking forward to these next few chapters, you really don't. 
> 
> (It's only because i a depressing person and i love sadness ehehe)

Karkat Vantas sits in front of his computer, staring at the screen, his mouth agape. He can’t believe she went through with it, even after he told her not to. He can’t believe she ignored his words of advice, but most of all, he can’t believe she’s dead for good. Now who’s going to lead their god damned team? That clueless nookwhiff of a light player? The one who doesn’t seem to know a fucking thing? Or that doom player, no he’ll probably doom them all. The space player would probably be the best candidate, but even he seems too preoccupied.

He stares at the bloodied, lifeless body through the viewport, his eyes widened in shock. His eyes flick down to her timeline, this is still alpha Riana, and it seems to carry further on. He furrows his eyebrows and scrolls further up and sighs out (too loud) in relief, she’s standing there with the doom player, Alec he thinks his name is, in her blue sylph outfit, cat like ears sticking out from the top of her head, a long white, stripy tail from her lower back, and claws it seems. Fangs protrude from her gums when she smiles; Karkat’s blood pusher skips a beat when she does smile. 

What the fuck, why did it do that no don’t do that. 

Her medium length brown hair falls from the hood and her blue eyes light up when she sees Alec. She leaps towards him and embraces him in a tackle hug, reminding of Nepeta who’s actually nowhere to be seen, where did she get off to? She pulls back when she realizes what she’d done and blushes. Karkat sighs and smiles oh so slightly, then making his face turn back to a snarl, he swings around in his chair and stands up, walking over to one of the corners of the room and observing the others in the room. 

There are only the four of them, Feferi, Eridan, Sollux and himself, Kanaya is still nowhere to be seen. Eridan had only just appeared from the transportalizer and walks over to Karkat. Karkat moans and rolls his eyes, what does this asshole want?  
“Hey Kar.”  
“What the fuck do you want?”  
“Wwhat? Can’t I just come ovver here and havve a chat wwith my best friend?”  
“No. Now if you don’t have anything important to discuss, fuck off.”  
“Actually, I kind of do.”  
“What the fuck is it then?”  
“You’re not gonna like it though.”  
“For fucks sakes. If it’s important then I need to fucking know. Regardless whether I like it or fucking not. Now tell me what it is before I beat it out of you, unless it actually is something unimportant.”  
“I wwas thinkin a joinin up wwith Jack.” Karkat’s eyes widen and his brow furrows as much as he can, a snarl curling on his lips.

“What the fuck Eridan! Why the fuck would you think a stupid fucking wiggler thing like that?! Do you know what a fucking stupid idea that is? He’ll fucking cull you in a fucking instant before you even get the fucking chance to fucking ask him! What the fuck was going through your stupid little wiggler think pan when you thought up that stupid idea?! Seriously Eridan, what the fuck? What the actual fuck you stupid bulge licking taintchafe?!”  
“Wwhoa Kar, don’t you think you’re comin on a little too strong wwith those insults?”  
“What?! I’m not coming onto you you dumb fuckass!”  
“I mean, Kar, I though wwe wwere friends I didn’t knoww you felt like that towards me. but I am extremely open to the idea.”  
“You know what? See if I fucking care. Go team up with Jack, it’s your fucking corpse party.”  
“Wwell, I knoww wwhen I’m not wwanted.” He huffs and at that moment Kanaya appears on the transportalizer, a huge smile on her face. Eridan Walks over to the pad but Feferi grabs his sleeve and turns to him,  
“What was all that aboat joining Jack? You can’t be searious can you?” Karkat doesn’t catch the rest of their conversation because Kanaya walks up to him and grabs his attention.  
“Where the fuck have you been?” Karkat asks and Kanaya just smiles a little wider, her cute little fangs protruding from her top lip.  
“It seems that the Matriorb was never indeed meant to be hatched in the human’s universe, the key was in a chest at the centre of this meteor, I believe the mother grub was supposed to be hatched in that destination instead.”  
“Well, that’s good I guess. But why didn’t you tell me where you fucking went? I was starting to worry Kanaya.” Kanaya’s face softens and she apologises,  
“I am terribly sorry to frighten you like that, Karkat. You were just busy gawking at that human girl when I tried to acquire your attention. So I decided that I would explore the meteor on my own behalf.”  
“Who the fuck says I was gawking?” Karkat snarls and Kanaya lets out a single laugh.  
“It is alright, shalt not tell a single being.” Karkat glares at her then waves her off.  
“What the fuck ever. So, where’s the Matriorb now?”  
“I have locked it in a chest, secured tight with a lock to which only I have the key to, and that chest is secured firmly on the ground so it cannot be stolen. In the case that it may be in danger if I kept it here in the lab.”  
“Well, yeah that makes sense, especially with that lunatic running around.” He points over his shoulder to Eridan, who has started to bicker with Sollux and Feferi trying to stop them.  
“OH MY GLUB ERIDAM SHUT THE GLUB UP NOBODY CARES ABOAT YOUR SEALLY SCIENCE SHIP!” Karkat hears Feferi shout. He rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to Kanaya.  
“Well, I’m glad you’re not hurt though.” She smiles again and reaches down to give him a one armed hug, Karkat reluctantly hugs her back and then they break apart again, Kanaya heading over to her computer which is flashing, someone trolling her.

“You could nevver beat me in a fuckin duel, Sol!” Eridan shouts and Sollux laughs.  
“You want a fucking bet on that?”  
“Bring it the fuck on.” Before Karkat can react, Eridan has thrown his cape on the ground and taken out his wand, while Sollux holds his bi-coloured glasses in his left hand. Eridan leaps in the air flings the wand, a massive explosion of white erupting from his hand right towards Sollux, who has countered with an eruption of psionic power. The two energies collide and counter each other for a few moments, before a massive surge from Eridan causes the white to engulf Sollux and his psionics, sending him flying back into the wall, knocking him unconscious. 

“ _Sollux!_ ” Feferi screams and grabs her trident, turning to face Eridan, giving him the biggest death stare Karkat has ever seen. She leaps towards him but he holds his wand out again and the white hope passes through her middle, making her drop her trident and fall to the ground, dead. Kanaya gasps and shouts,  
“Eridan! How could you do that?! Why did you do that?! You loved her, I thought you loved her! How can you do that to the person you love?! Oh god, Feferi. You’re a monster! Feferi!” She has Jade tears in her eyes, Karkat is slightly confused, but then it becomes clear with the next thing she says.  
“You fucking loved her! _I_ fucking loved her!” 

Whoa, what? 

Eridan snarls and raises his wand, it begins to glow. By now tears are pouring down Kanaya’s face and she switches her lipstick to a chainsaw and leaps at him. His arm straightens and Karkat freezes, the chainsaw drops from her hand and switches back when the white beam passes through her.  
He lowers his arm and walks to the transportalizer, zapping out of there.  
“ _Kanaya_!” Karkat shouts and runs up to her, taking her in his arms. She had no pulse. He couldn’t stop the tears falling from his eyes and they drip onto her jade-grey cheek.  
“Kanya. No Kanaya! Don’t be dead, you can’t be dead! Stop fooling around Kanaya! Wake up!” His hands are covered in blood as his heart begins pounding,  
“Oh please, it has to be grub sauce, it’s just grub sauce, right Kanaya? Kanaya?” Oh no oh fuck oh god oh god oh fuck oh no. “Kanaya? Hey, Kanaya? Open your eyes! Kanaya! Open your fucking eyes! Don’t fucking leave me! _Kanaya_!” Her dream self, maybe there’s a slim chance her dream self survived. He bends his head down and kisses her, tears streaming down his cheeks in red rivers. He chokes out a sob and lays her body down on the lab floor, mourning. 

He stands back up, fists clenched and teeth gritted, that fucking bastard was going to pay, he was truly going to pay. He walks over to Feferi, kisses her as well and then over to Sollux, he’s still alive just knocked out. He leaves him leaning against the wall, and then notices Kanaya’s troll handle flashing. 

Mr Vantas.  
GA: WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?   
GA: THERE’S NO TEXT HERE, JUST A BLANK SCREEN.   
GA: OH I GET IT, YOU’RE THE FUCKASS WHO USES WHITE TEXT.  
Vantas, I am only here to express to you one thing.   
GA: AND WHAT THE FUCK WOULD THAT BE? WHY ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING TALKING TO ME THROUGH KANAYAS ACCOUNT I DO HAVE MY OWN YOU KNOW.   
I am entirely aware of that.   
GA: SO WHAT THE FUCK IS IT   
don’t turn your back on the body.   
What the fuck is that supposed to mean? All three of them are still there, and they aren’t going to move any time soon. He looks to the other side of the room and notices his own computer flashing. 

\-- terminallyCapricious  [TC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  \-- 

TC: honk.   
CG: GAMZEE I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR SHIT RIGHT NOW.   
TC: HONK.   
CG: YOU’RE A FUCKING CLOWN I GET IT. NOW FUCK OFF   
TC: hey karbro.   
TC: WHAT THE MOTHER FUCK IS UP MY BESTEST FRIEND.   
CG: WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH YOU YOUR TEXT HAS CHANGED.   
TC: its coming   
TC: ITS ALL UP AND GOT ITS MOTHER FUCKING COMING ON   
CG: GAMZEE YOU’RE STARTING TO FREAK ME THE FUCK OUT.   
TC: prepare to get your freaked on karbro.   
TC: BECAUSE IT’S MOTHER FUCKING COMING.   
TC: I’ve got my understanding on.   
TC: MY MOTHER FUCKING UNDERSTANDING.   
CG: GAMZEE GO HAVE ONE OF YOUR FUCKING SOPOR PIES AND CALM THE FUCK DOWN.   
TC: there isn’t any left.   
TC: IT’S ALL MOTHER FUCKING GONE.   
TC: didn’t you know that shit rots your think pan?   
TC: IT ROTS IT TO ITS MOTHER FUCKING CORE.   
TC: it was fogging my vision.   
TC: I DIDN’T MOTHER FUCKING SEE WHAT I WAS ALL UP AND MEANT TO BE.   
TC: so be prepared.   
TC: BE ALL UP AND PREPARED FOR THE BITCHIEST OF BITCHTITS.   
TC: Imma get my culling on.   
TC: BECAUSE I MOTHER FUCKING SEE THAT’S WHAT I WAS MEANT TO DO ALL ALONG.   
TC: cull all you little mother fuckers.   
TC: EVERY FUCKING LAST ONE OF YOU.  
TC: I’ll throw them all a party.   
TC: A PARTY WHERE THEIR BLOOD IS THE BEVERAGE.   
TC: and you’re invited.   
TC: BESTEST MOTHER FUCKING FRIEND.   
TC: I’ll be seeing you.   
TC: WELCOME TO THE DARK CARNIVAL, BROTHER. 

\-- terminallyCapricious  [TC] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  \-- 

Well fuck. This makes Karkat feel all sorts of things, but mostly fear and anger. He snarls and grabs his sickle; he’s got to man up if he’s to save everyone else. But he trolls one last person before leaving. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG] began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  \-- 

CG: HI. IT’S ME AGAIN. I GUESS YOU DID ALRIGHT.   
CG: YOU DIDN’T DIE AFTER ALL. CONGRATULATIONS.   
CG: I JUST NEED TO TELL YOU THAT I’M SORRY IF I EVER OFFENDED YOU, YOU KNOW, IN MY OBLIVIOUS MANNER.   
CG: AND THAT I NEED TO TELL YOU GOODBYE.   
CG: I MIGHT DIE TODAY.   
CG: AND IF I DO, THERE’S ONE THING I WANT YOU TO KNOW.   
CG: YOU DID GREAT. I’M FUCKING PROUD OF YOU. YOU’VE BEEN A BETTER LEADER THAN I COULD EVER FUCKING IMAGINE.   
CG: I’M THAKFUL I GOT THE CHANCE TO KNOW YOU.   
CG: THAT THERE IS SOMEONE WHO IS WILLING TO PUT UP WITH MY RANTS.   
CG: IF I WERE HALF AS SUCCESSFUL AS YOU AT BEING A LEADER, MAYBE I WOULDN’T BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW.   
CG: FUCK.   
CG: JUST FUCKING SAY IT KARKAT. DON’T BE A FUCKING CLUCKBEAST.   
CG: I KNOW WE’VE ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR THE DAY.   
CG: BUT IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE AN ETERNITY.   
CG: I DON’T REGRET ANY SECOND OF IT.   
CG: FROM THE SECOND YOU BLOCKED ME AFTER OUR FIRST CONVERSATION, UP TO THIS POINT IN TIME.   
CG: I KNOW PAST ME IS AN IDIOT.   
CG: AND I’M GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH HIM   
CG: THERE REALLY IS ONLY ONE THING TO SAY BEFORE I LEAVE, PROBABLY FOREVER.   
CG: AND THAT THING IS,   
CG: YOU WERE RIGHT WHEN YOU SAID I PITY YOU.   
CG: RIANA, I THINK I’M FALLING HORNS OVER HEELS FOR YOU.   
CG: THAT SOUNDED SO FUCKING CHEESY BUT FUCK IT.   
CG: RIANA IN THE SHORT TIME I’VE KNOWN YOU I’VE CAME TO PITY YOU.   
CG: I CAME TO EVEN love YOU.   
CG: BY THE TIME YOU GET THIS I’LL EITHER BE DEAD OR A MURDERER.   
CG: GOODBYE RIANA. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG] ceased trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  \-- 

He’s crying again by the time he leaps on the transportalizer and transportalized from the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god Karkat
> 
> And Kanaya's thing for Feferi was something i've been planning for a few chapters now, well it is and AU
> 
> I was also listening to this song while writing,
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXiBFHeAWAM
> 
> EDIT: sorry i just realised i missed a bit of karkat's dialogue


	21. 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might just be the longest chapter so far

Equius sits in one of the many hallways of the meteor, watching his Moirail who's fiddling with her blue cat beanie. She sighs and moans, tapping her claws on the ground in impatience.  
"Equiuuuus. This is boooring. What are we doing just sitting here doing nothing when there's a whole meteor to expurrlore?" She moans, and Equius shooshes her.  
"Hush Nepeta. Such impatience shall not be tolerated."  
"What are we even waiting fur? I mean, why do we have to wait here in this dank hall?"  
"We are awaiting confirmation."  
"Confurmation of what?"  
"Confirmation of the highblood's status."  
"What? What's that surpawssed to mean?"  
"The supply of sopor slime has finally run out, you see. And the highblood's level of sanity will have been breached. The slime was helping him control his subjugglatory indulges and therefore keeping the true meaning of being an indigo blood at bay, an illusion of sorts." Nepeta stares at Equius, her brow furrowing.  
"You mean Gamzee's going to go on a murderous rampage?"  
"That is my suspicion, yes. We are awaiting confirmation of this, and i am keeping you here for your own safety. But if we do encounter the highblood, i want you to abscond as quickly as you can, i will stay behind and deal with the highblood. No questions asked."  
"But..."  
"I said no questions asked." Nepeta looks as though she wants to argue further, but she says no more. To occupy his time, he decides to troll one of his human comapnions, that is to say, his only human companion. 

\-- centaursTesticle  [CT] began trolling thunderingHeavens [TH] \-- 

CT: D --> hello again Raine.   
CT: D --> how are you?   
TH: oh, hi equius.   
TH: i'm doing alright. what about you?   
CT: D --> i am doing e%ceptionally well, thank you.   
TH: well, that's good then.   
CT: D --> indeed so.   
CT: D --> have you a further understanding of your situation as of yet?   
TH: yeah, it has. ever since i ascended, things have become a lot clearer. I can understand now that this is not a dream, that it is actually reality.   
TH: and also i've came to the conclusion that you guys are trolls.   
CT: D --> how did you figure it out?   
TH: well, my friend Riana said something about 'answering this troll,' and also, because the opening thing says 'began trolling.'   
CT: D --> you have done well to figure it out on your own. perhaps not all humans are as dumb as they 100k.   
TH: um, thanks?   
CT: D --> yes, that was supposed to be a compliment of sorts.   
CT: D --> oh lord, where has she gotten off too?   
TH: what? who are you talking about?   
CT: D --> my Moirail   
TH: right, i'm going to pretend to know what you're talking about.   
CT: D --> yes, humans only have the one quadrant don't they.   
CT: D --> perhaps i shall e%plain to you later.   
CT: D --> if i am alive to tell.   
CT: D --> goodbye raine, again it was nice to chat with you.   
TH: wait, if you're still alive? what's that supposed to mean? 

\-- centaursTesticle  [CT] ceased trolling thunderingHeavens [TH] \-- 

TH: hello?   
TH: Equius? 

//

Nepeta looks at her Moirail who has decided to take the time to troll someone, this was just too boring for her. When she thinks that Equius is too indulged in coversation, Nepeta quietly sneaks away without her Moirail noticing. She hates to disobey her Moirail, but sometimes it's for the better! especially when there's some fun involved. She turns a corner so she's out of Equius' sight, then bolts down the hallway, her blue slippers barely making a pap on the floor. She navigates the hallways, making sure to remember the route so she can find her way back. But she stops when a familiar scent fills her nose. Her nostrils flare and her brow furrows, she treads ever so slowly forwards. Turning the corner her eyes widen in horror. There were two bodies lying in the middle of the floor. 

One Tavros'. 

One Terezi's. 

Nepeta's eyes fill with tears as she kneels down next to Terezi, teal blood flooding the floor below her and Nepeta touches her face gently. It had been brutally bashed and many of her bones were broken, even her skull looked indented. Her olive tears mix with the teal, she takes Terezi's head in her hands. 

Honk

Nepeta's eyes snap open, did she really hear that? Or was it a figure of her imagination? 

Honk honk. 

No, that was definitely not her mind. She stands up and equips her claw gloves, spinning around to face the honking. A silhouetted figure stands about ten metres behind her, a menacing look on his face. He walks forwards and Nepeta notices the clubs in his hands, they were both soaked in teal blood. Nepeta's brow furrows again and she snarls, he killed her, how could he kill her. Her fists clench tight and she growls, and then roars, leaping at Gamzee with claws extended and arms next at head level. He captchalogues one of his clubs and then tears Nepeta right out of the air, slaming her into the ground and breaking her arm.  
"Hey kitty. You here to join the party too? THE MOTHER FUCKING PARTY. because you're invited." Gamzee smiles wickedly and Nepeta hisses at him, making him frown. He slams his club into Nepeta's face, breaking her jaw and nose, making both her nose and mouth bleed.  
"Bad kitty. BAD KITTY." He throws her in the air with her broken arm and she slams into the ground, winded. She attempts to stand up but Gamzee's over to her in a flash. He grabs her good wrist, undoubtedly breaking it and she hisses out in pain.  
"Come on kitty kitty, strike me." He drags the claws across his face, lifting Nepeta off the ground to do so, and then lowers her back down. He smiles menacingly once more and twists her hand around so they face her, pointing them at her neck. 

"Night, kitty."

//

Equius bolts down the hall when he hears the faint roar of his Moirail, making cracks in the concrete. he slides to turn and he clenches his fists, his footsteps echo throughout the halls. He stops when he comes to a large room, a standing figure at the end of it walking out of the opposite door. Clubs in his hand, Equius could see two colours, one teal, one olive. His eyes widen in shock horror as he looks down at the bodies on the floor, there was the mud blood, barely even a loss. The teal blood, she was an a%ceptable being, at most. But the final body was the one of his Moirail, face beaten and three claws pronged in her neck. 

He walks over to her and kneels down, taking her head in his hand, her blue beanie slides off into his hands. He clutches it to him and snarls, standing back up, he has tears in his eyes. Yes, the one and only Equius Zahhak is crying. He captchalogues her hoodie and roars out, breaking any nearby glass within a distance of a two hundred metre radius. and he leaps. Without thinking he actually leaps at the high blood, his limbs outstretched and his fist pulled back. Every bone, every muscle, everything he ever knew screeched at him to stop. everything except his heart, and in the end, isn't that what it comes down too? Tears stream down his cheeks in blue rivers, and he remembers the time when he first met Nepeta. 

He was only two sweeps old, barely even out of wigglerhood. He had told Aurthour he was going for a stroll, a very long stroll. He needed the fresh air, he had just beaten one of his many robot fighting partners, he's most successful one yet. It had came close to knocking him down, and this made him quite angry, he was perspiring heavily and he had used nearly all of his fresh towels. He was leaping very high and very far, not exactly walking. A few hours had passed, and he was on unfamiliar territory, it seemed almost abandoned. He was about to turn back when he heard a young troll's scream. He spun around and noticed a large white webbeast staring at a little girl, drool hanging from it fangs as it opened it's pincers. 

Of course Equius jumped in. He leapst over the top of it and slammed his fist into it's jaw, blood spilling from it's mouth. It hisses and attempts to snap at Equius but he had pounded it to the ground before it even had the chance. The little girl looked up at Equius, eyes big with fear and curiosity, he noticed her foot was caught in a bunch of reeds. He carefully untangles them and helps the girl up. She thanks him and smiles, and says,  
"Th-thank you." Equius nods and begins walk away, but the young troll grabs his sleeve.  
"You're just going to go? Just like that? Can't you at least tell me your name? I'm Nepeta."  
"Equius." He mumbles, beginning to sweat again, she recoils somewhat then just laughs. Equius cocks an eyebrow, nobody had ever laughed at his perspiration problem before, only cringed.  
"Equius. I like it."  
"Yes, i suppose your name is quite satisfactory too."  
"Heehee! hey, did you want to come over to my hive? I'm sure my lusus will adore you!"  
"I'm sorry, i must be going."  
"Well, it was nice meeting you Equius. Oh! and if you want to look me up on Trollian, my trollhandle is arsenicCatnip." Equius looks at her, she was beaming, and he had to admit she was really cute. He nods.  
"I shall look into it."  
"Heehee! bye Equius." He nods again and takes off towards home. 

Equius draws back into the present, he hadn't realized he had zoned off. And he also hadn't realized that he had beaten Gamzee to the ground, he was on the verge of unconsciousness. Equius freezes and begins to perspire heavily, he shakes his head and runs off, he had just beaten the high blood to a pulp, that wasn't right. It really wasn't right. He mentally kicks himself and wipes the rest of his tears from his eyes, it was for Nepeta, remember it was for Nepeta. His heart starts beating again as he absconds from the room.

//

Karkat stalks the corridoors, snarling and still crying. He had been walking for about an hour, there was no sight of the traitorous fiend that he knows as Eridan. but when he comes to an open room he stops and pushes himself against the wall when he sees a figure. They're just standing there, arms crossed and looking really... sad. It looks as though she almost has tears in her eyes. Vriska is nearly crying, normally Karkat would take this time to dis the fuck out of her, but he really was not in the mood. Just as he was about to walk over to her and ask what the fuck was wrong, a second person appears. A wand in his hand. He stands in a fighting pose and holds his wand towards her Vriska snarls and was about to leap at him when yet another one appears. This time it's Gamzee. 

And he's broken and bruised and limping. 

And also carrying clubs in his hands soaked in teal and olive. 

Fuck. fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. They all begin death staring at each other, standing in fighting poses. Karkat just snarls, he;s the leader, he should do something about this. He _will_ do something about this. He takes in a deep breath, plucking up his courage and walks over to them. They all look towards him, they can all see he's been crying.  
"What the fuck is going on here?" He shouts. Without waitng for a reply his fist has swung up under Gamzee's jaw, way harder than intentionally intending. it sends him back and tumbling over the edge. Next he turns to Vriska, and she smirks at his scowl.  
"So big brave Karkat has finally got his leadership on, huh? Ha!"  
"Shut up." Before she could see it, his leg had swung up and kicked her in the gut, sending her flying back. And lastly he turns to Eridan.  
"And you. _You_ " He points his wand at Karkat, and Karkat begins pacing towards Eridan. Eridan's wand glows and a white beam of hope shoots from it. But Karkat pulls the left side of his body backwards, dodging the beam by mere inches, and then continues to walk towards Eridan. Shock and fear pass on Eridan face and Karkat pulls the wand from his hand, breaking it in half and then shouts as he takes his sickle from his sylladex and leaps at him. 

It slides easily through him. 

Eridan drops to the ground, puple blood spilling from him, a snarl still upturned on his face. That traitorous bastard deserved it. He fucking deserved it. He deserved it. but yet Karkat falls to his knees, dropping the sickle and then onto his hands. Red droplets fall from his face, and whe he remembered that Vriska was still there he wipes them from his face.   
"Karkat?" He hears a familiar sweet voice say from in front of him and his head snaps up, a smile now beaming on his face.  
"Kanaya!" he shouts and then literally leaps at her, tackling her to the ground and hugging her, he doesn't care how sappy he looks, Vriska can tease him about it later.  
"Ow, Karkat dear, not so hard."  
"Shit." he says then stands back up, holding a hand out to her as he pulls her up, all the tears washed from his face. Then he notices that she's glowing, and a cloth wrapped around her middle. Kanaya notices his concern and sighs.  
"It turns out that, well, i'm a rainbow drinker." Karkat stares at her, hardly believing. He shakes out of his shock and hugs her again.  
"I don't fucking care, as long as you're alright." Kanaya smiles and pats the back of his head.  
"You did good, Karkat, veeeeeeeery good." He hears Vriska say behind him and he turns around, she's actually smiling, standing back up. She's fucking _smiling_ , not a smirk, but a smile.  
"Thanks Vriska." He says and the three of them leave the room, Karkat helping Kanaya up the whole way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i never really understood why Gamzee never killed Terezi even though he knew she was there. and i know Terezi's vitality of actually staying alive, but things change. 
> 
> Oh, and that's my headcanon, how Equius met Nepeta


	22. 22

I stare at my hands, my skin is paler than i remember it being, almost white. And my nails, well, they're no longer nails, they're claws. I pat the top of my head and gasp when i find two furry ears sticking out the top of the hood. I clap my hands to where my normal human ears should be but find nothing. And then i look behind me and see a black and silver striped tail swishing from side to side, it feels awfully strange and unfamiliar. 

I just laugh. 

I swing around and notice Alec standing there with his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. I beam a little more and then without realizing it tackle hug him. It shocks the both of us and i clamber back off him, blushing furiously.  
"Nice to see you too." He says and smirks.  
"Well, i'm uh, glad you're alright." I shake out of my embarrassment and smile, making Alec flinch. I run my tongue along my top teeth and gasp as i poke my tongue on some rather sharp fangs.  
"Ouch." I say with my tongue half sticking out of my mouth.  
"So, what's it like?" He asks.  
"Hm?"  
"Being part tiger."  
"Oh. Well it's, uh, different. Things are kinda bright, i can hear the sound of the titanium rivers gushing from here, and i can smell what the freaking consorts are cooking from a mile away. But it's cool."  
"Your dreamself hated it."  
"Seriously?"  
He nods and pokes at his cheekbone.  
"She punched me."  
"What? Why?"  
"She didn't like the tiger senses. So she punched me for dumping your dead dreamself into the sprite. Speaking of which, i probably should be going and you know, prototyping again."  
"Yeah, okay." I say and just as he takes off i say,  
"Hey, thanks." He just smirks and passes through the very first gate. I guess Karkat was right about my dreamself being dead. 

I walk inside and begin the process of recreating all my stuff, the codes were pretty easy to remember. I slouch on the couch and scroll through pesterchum, deciding for a change of pace and changing my text to my actual favourite colour, i just chose blue because, well, i think it's pretty obvious. And then i realize i have a unread message, and it's from Karkat. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG] began trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  \-- 

CG: HI. IT’S ME AGAIN. I GUESS YOU DID ALRIGHT.   
CG: YOU DIDN’T DIE AFTER ALL. CONGRATULATIONS.   
CG: I JUST NEED TO TELL YOU THAT I’M SORRY IF I EVER OFFENDED YOU, YOU KNOW, IN MY OBLIVIOUS MANNER.   
CG: AND THAT I NEED TO TELL YOU GOODBYE.   
CG: I MIGHT DIE TODAY.   
CG: AND IF I DO, THERE’S ONE THING I WANT YOU TO KNOW.   
CG: YOU DID GREAT. I’M FUCKING PROUD OF YOU. YOU’VE BEEN A BETTER LEADER THAN I COULD EVER FUCKING IMAGINE.   
CG: I’M THAKFUL I GOT THE CHANCE TO KNOW YOU.   
CG: THAT THERE IS SOMEONE WHO IS WILLING TO PUT UP WITH MY RANTS.   
CG: IF I WERE HALF AS SUCCESSFUL AS YOU AT BEING A LEADER, MAYBE I WOULDN’T BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT NOW.   
CG: FUCK.   
CG: JUST FUCKING SAY IT KARKAT. DON’T BE A FUCKING CLUCKBEAST.   
CG: I KNOW WE’VE ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR THE DAY.   
CG: BUT IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE AN ETERNITY.    
CG: I DON’T REGRET ANY SECOND OF IT.   
CG: FROM THE SECOND YOU BLOCKED ME AFTER OUR FIRST CONVERSATION, UP TO THIS POINT IN TIME.   
CG: I KNOW PAST ME IS AN IDIOT.   
CG: AND I’M GRATEFUL TO YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH HIM   
CG: THERE REALLY IS ONLY ONE THING TO SAY BEFORE I LEAVE, PROBABLY FOREVER.   
CG: AND THAT THING IS,   
CG: YOU WERE RIGHT WHEN YOU SAID I PITY YOU.   
CG: RIANA, I THINK I’M FALLING HORNS OVER HEELS FOR YOU.   
CG: THAT SOUNDED SO FUCKING CHEESY BUT FUCK IT.   
CG: RIANA IN THE SHORT TIME I’VE KNOWN YOU I’VE CAME TO PITY YOU.   
CG: I CAME TO EVEN love YOU.   
CG: BY THE TIME YOU GET THIS I’LL EITHER BE DEAD OR A MURDERER.   
CG: GOODBYE RIANA. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG] ceased trolling wakingDragons  [WD]  \-- 

Fuck. No. This is not happening. His confession is the last thing on my mind, all i can think about is the Dark Carnival, which is what he's no doubt talking about. I have to reach him, but right now this would be as close as i can get. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  \--

WD: Karkat!   
WD: Karkat, are you there?!   
WD: shit Karkat, answer me!   
CG: SO I SEE YOU'VE DECIDED TO UNBLOCK ME.   
WD: shiiiit. You're past karkat, i need future you.   
CG: WHAT. AM I NOT GOOD ENOUGH? AM I NOT ENOUGH LIKE FUTURE ME?   
WD: no Karkat   
CG: WELL FUCK HIM AND FUCK YOU. GO SUCK A FUCKING NOOK YOU BULGE LICKING WIGGLER. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist  [CG] ceased being pestered by wakingDragons  [WD]  \-- 

FUCK. I take off out the door, i need to tell the others about this, now. After i pull my gloves on i fly through the gate and after Alec, using my wind powers to propel me forwards faster. I can see Alec at the edge of the village, staring at the gate and opening it, his cape flicking in the actually rather harsh wind. He walks through it and then takes off again, hovering slightly above the ground and i catch up to him sliding on the silver ground, probably not the best idea in these shoes.  
"Whoa, hey there." He says looking kind of shocked.  
"The trolls are in trouble."  
"What?"  
"The trolls. You know, Karkat, Kanaya whatever?"  
"Yeah but what do you..." A look of realization washes over his face and he curses. "Shit."  
"Shit indeed. Come on, we're getting the others." I take his wrist and leap forwards, then letting go of his wrist and showing him the way to the gate. 

It doesn't take us long to navigate our way through his world too, and then we find ourselves in LOTAF.  
"They're trying to make the genesis frog." I say and look around. They shouldn't be too far away, as the air here is pretty warm already and rather dense. I see Alec point up at the top of William's house and we both take off towards them. Except when we reach them and go to tell them the news, we both notice they're not attempting to create clone any frogs, instead they're staring up at the sky.  
"What are you..." I start but then see it too. Streaks of purple flash in the sky like lightning, I furrow my eyebrows and confusion and dismay, then snap out of it it tell the other two about the news of the trolls.  
"Guys, there's something you should know," I start and Raine and William both turn to me.  
"Argh!" Raine screams when she sees me as part tiger.  
"You ascended? That's what you were staying behind to do?" William asks and i nod.  
"Then, why are you like... that?" Raine asks and Alec holds a hand up.  
"We can explain all this later, right now Riana has something she wants to say."  
"I'm all ears." William says and i begin to explain. 

"So what you're saying is, is that the trolls are going to die?" Raine asks after we explained to her what the 'Dark Carnival' was.  
"Well, not all of them." William corrects her. A worried look crosses his face.  
"I haven't heard a peep from Nepeta for quite some time now." Tears begin to form in his eyes and i sigh, patting his shoulder. But before anybody could say anything else, a large flash of purple covers the sky and William shakes his head.  
"I have to go check that out." Then he takes off towards it.  
"Hey, wait for us." I say and leap up towards him, the other two following close behind. 

It takes us right out of the planet and in truth right past Prospit... well, where Prospit's debris is. I look to Raine and she shrugs, she knows exactly what happened, i will interrogate her later. I look around and gasp at what i see, there are many more planets in rings around ours, reaching all the way to as far as my eyes could see. The others seem to notice this too, although it's pretty hard to miss. We continue forth to the purple and notice five figures fighting. Four of those five are wearing god tier outfits. I take note in what their classes and aspects are, a Thief of Blood, Bard of Mind, Mage of Rage, and Seer of Time. And then the fifth figure is an awfully familiar one, one Jack Noir. I blast up past William, holding my fist back, he looks rather shocked, and flying into the small group. My fist collides with Jack's face who was too preoccupied to notice me.

The four of them stare at me in shock. 

I spin around to face them and they notice my animal like figure and they gasp. The other three catch up to me and we all look at each other. I look at two of the new characters, the Thief and the Mage, they both look awfully familiar. The Thief has long orange hair spilling out her hood, and the boy has shoulder length black hair with a scar running across his nose. All four of them look about thirteen years old. And then it clicks, these two were the two other dreamers i saw on Derse. We all shake out of our dismay and spin around to face Jack, once again, but this time we're stronger. But before i even know it his sword has penetrated through me once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't get distracted Riana. it could kill you


	23. 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry i suck at battle scenes UnU

Alec and Raine watch as Jack rips the sword from Riana and her limp body falls. They're both nearly overwhelemed by shock. William knows better though and, although still quite shaken, reacts quickly. He holds his hand out as black tentacle-like strings rip from his fingers and wraps around Riana, making her disappear as she is teleported somewhere safe (well, maybe not exactly safe.) He turns back to Jack and takes his axe from his sylladex and flings himself towards him. He clashes with Jack and pushes him back, a new fury in his eyes. William is again reminded of his father as he stares into Jack's eyes, his face taunting him and he lets out a slight grunt. 

He sees Alec shoot forwards, his hands licking with wisps of black matter, physical doom. His fist swings forwards and collides with Jack's blade, creating a cut on Alec's fist. With his other hand he grips the sword (putting a slightly deeper cut through his palm) and black flames shoot down the blade and around his arm. Emerging from behind them is a purple flash, Raine quickly whirls around to see the Mage pointing his arm at Jack, an intense purple glow surrounding him. Jack begins to slow and his facial features aren't curled up in a snarl as much, the mage closes his eyes and furrows his eyebrows, this takes all of his concentration. 

But apparently it's not enough because Jack breaks through the trance and Alec's doom and shoots towards him, it takes Mage a moment to recover, but that would have been too long him Raine hadn't stopped him in a burning sphere of light. Jack immediately retreats back out of it and snarls, unaware of William behind him who is about to attempt the spacey thing. Black triangles form behind him and twist to dodge him, tangling together and then opening up again to create a black cage around him. Jack snarls, but a second Jack appears a few seconds before the one in the cage disappears, hopping those few seconds into the past. 

The seer pulls something from her sylladex, two spinning saw blades with jagged edges, if that touched someone's wrist it would cut their hand right off. She gently places her two index fingers on the flat top of each saw and they begin to glow a dark red and she closes her eyes for a second before she disappears and then reappears with two (doomed no doubt) other god tier versions of herself, also wielding time blades (she just calls them that because their real name is way too long.) One of the doomed Seers leap forwards, holding both of the sharp saws towards Jack, and when he dodges the first one, she spins the second one around. There was no way Jack could dodge it, so he disappears and another version appears behind her. 

Just as the three of them planned in a seperate timeline.

The second doomed Seer had already flung herself after the first, and the saw collided with the small clock on his chest, sawing it in half and putting an incredibly deep gash through the carapace. He snarls and as he tries to leap timelines he finds he can't and looks at the doomed Seer with an incredible snarl on his face. Before she knew it Jack had run his blade through her middle, then swung around and did the same thing with the first doomed seer. They both fall, and the original Seer grimaces but then disappears with the two bodies, returning them to their original timelines, although only the first would come back, as the second was actually heroic. 

The Thief takes her sword from her sheath while everybody is distracted and slices at Jack, who recoils with the pain in his chest. He ducks under the blade and then leaps at her, but she just smiles and sticks her hand out palm forwards. She slams her palm into his wound and he howls out in pain, she clutches the ragged shirt around him, making him cry out more. His blood begins to pull from his wound and disappears into thin air, she looks around at the others and nods at the Mage who's lip twitches. He holds his arm out once more and begins to glow again.  
The harsh look on Jack's face began to weaken as his rage is sucked from him. 

As he begins to fall, William makes the space around him fold in and teleport him to a more suitable area. Once he had disappeared, the seven turn to each other and begin to introduce themselves.  
"Thank you for your help, strangers. We wouldn't have made it without you." The Seer says and holds out her hand. William shakes it first.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm William, this is Raine and Alec, and our friend who was tragically struck, is Riana."  
"Yes. I am Eva. This here is Jamie," She points to the Thief who smiles, "and Nichollas, who preffers to be called Nic," She points to the Mage, he just rolls his eyes, "And... where did Ben get off too now?" She looks around whilst shaking the other two's hands.  
"Eh, sorry i had to miss the party. There was some thin's i hadda do, ya know?" Eva rolls her eyes.  
"And this is Ben. He likes to disappear at times when he is needed. It is best not to ask what." William only just notices that she has a Britich accent, and Ben has a laid back American one. "Now, i know we have only just met, but there is something we need to discuss."  
"Shoot." William says.  
"Well, we are going to need you help, William. Because you are the Space player. As you probably know, our session is destined to fail..."  
"No, i wasn't aware of that." William blinks in confusion.  
"Well, it is." Jamie pipes up.  
"Yes. Anyway, you should know that we need to Scratch it. The problem with this is, i, as the time player, am capable of doing so, but if we were, we would have no means of escaping it. And therefore it would destroy us along with it. But with your help we can escape it."  
"I can see your problem. But what about the other players we haven't met yet? Will we just leve them here to die?" Eva takes a deep breath and says,  
"They are already dead." All three of them look at her in shock. "It is true. Me and alternate me's have checked them all, and we have found corpses from each planet. We, plus your friend, are the only survivors."  
"No way." Raine says and Eva nods.  
"I'm afraid so..."  
"Then i have another question." Alec chimes in.  
"Yes?"  
"Where the hell _is_ everybody?"  
"I just explained that..."  
"No no no, i know that. I mean, there are a hell of a lot of people who read Homestuck, yet there were only us and obviously not that many other people." Eva sighs and says,  
"Allow me to show you something, follow me." The seven of them fly further away from all the planets, and stop after a few minutes of flying. When they see what Eva was showing them, all three of them gasp. 

Their four planets are hovering around Skaia, but then there is an outer circle of planets, and another after that, and then two more.  
"Our planets are the ring above yours." Eva says then turns around towards the positioning of the veil, pointing an arm.  
"Yes, your analysis was correct, there should be more people than this. The rings have kept growing further and further out. But the ones that landed within the veil, they... they were destroyed immediately along with their occupants." Her hand falls, leaving Raine, Alec and William all in shock.  
"Now you understand why there are such few players?" They all nod. "Right. Now i believe there must be something we should be doing." William nods and they all follow Eva down to her planet.  
"So how come our servers didn't connect when we entered?" Raine asks.  
"The Game is quite intelligent, for an inanimate thing that is. It could tell who we were talking to before we entered, and cleverly connected the servers to those who were in contact with each other." She nods and they land in the Land of Weather and Gears. Let's just say there was a lot of different tools and machinery littered around the place, and the weather changed frequently. Very frequently. As in, like every five minutes. Eva takes them to the scratching device, two large saws like her time blades one on top of the other spinning opposite ways.  
"Do you know how we're going to get out of here?" Jamie asks and William smiles.  
"I do." Alec and Raine look at him but he shakes his head.  
"Trust me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm not sure how easy that was to follow, i basically wrote out my plan in my head, and i know a lot of this stuff isn't canon, but it can't be exactly the same, can it.
> 
> I'm also a little confused about Mage's, however many times i've read through the wikia on classes. my understanding of it is 'one who manipulates with or through [rage]' (as that's his aspect)


	24. 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> engage in erratic and extremely dangerous X7 showdown combo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, double update. I actually wrote most of this chapter before the previous one.

Vriska, Karkat and Kanaya all exit the room, Vriska still limping from the kick she received from Karkat earlier. She has to admit the kid packs a punch. And not to mention he has guts, he slogged that murderous clown in the jaw and over the edge. And then culled Ampora! He made it look so easy, like a hot knife through butter. The kid was brave, she thought that she had to at least compliment him on his bravery. but there was really only one thing plaguing her mind right now, and that was the death where she was at fault. 

She never would have done it if he wasn't the one who was going to kill her. When she saw the smirk on his face, her heart broke a little, Tavros was never one to hurt anything, heck, he couldn't even make his fiduspawn kill each other. He was such a wuss. He wasn't as strong as trolls should be, yes that may have been partly her fault when she crippled him, but that barely made a difference! He was so pathetic to begin with and... she just wanted to change that. Is there any harm in helping him? No, she didn't think so. 

But when he ran at her, that intent glint, she hated him. Hated him for what he'd become, he was so bent on killing her that he didn't realize the consequences that lied ahead. She panicked for a split second, and then grabbed his lance and turned it on him. She never realized she had actually killed him until she was tossing his half robotic corpse over the side. She always thought it would be easy and painless to kill him, will, the former was right anyway. Now she just feels like something is missing, like there's a hole in her heart.

She looks at her hands and clutches them to her chest, they still have splotches of brown blood on them. She rubs at them to try and get it off, but no matter how hard she tried it just wouldn't come off. She ends up holding them to her chest again as they walk out the door. All that can be heard is the silent padding of their footsteps echoing throughout the hall as they descend. But there's also an abnormal sound, the sound of faint sobbing. The three of them walk towards it and once turned a corner they find the source. 

Equius is sitting in the middle of the hall with Nepeta's blue beanie in his hands, being oh-so-careful not to tear it. When he notices them he captchalogues it and stand back up, wiping at his his blue rimmed eyes under his glasses.  
"Equius, what is the matter?" Kanaya asks.  
He pinches the brim of his nose before answering,  
"The highblood... Makara. He... he took Nepeta's life." There was no easy way to say it. Karkat and Kanaya's eyes widen and Karkat scrunches his fist up in a ball.  
"I'll kill that fucking clown." He mutters to himself and Kanaya pats his shoulder, silently shooshing him. All Vriska does is sigh and furrows her eyebrows in a moment of sympathy before returning to normal.  
"We are terribly sorry, Equius, for your loss. I know it must be hard for you to lose your Moirail after you had such a long and healthy relationship." Equius nods and Karkat clenches his teeth.  
"I know how you fucking feel. It fucking hurts and..." Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. He wipes at his eyes furiously and just closes them all together. "Fuck." he says and turns around. Kanaya turns with him and begins rubbing his back and shoulders, shooshing him again. Vriska turns to Equius and frowns.  
"I am actually sorry to hear about that. Believe it or not." He nods again and looks down, Vriska sighs once more, she's been doing a lot of that lately. She turns back to Karkat and rolls her eyes. "Come on cry baby, let's go." Kanaya gives the most evil stare she can conjure up, and it actually makes Vriska twinge. In the end she just walks off, Equius soon following behind her and the other two following suit, Karkat managed to hide the colour of his tears behind his sweater sleeves. 

They exit the hall and enter below from where they originally came from, where Karkat had punched Gamzee off the edge. But there is no sign of the killer clown. What they do see is a staggering Sollux crashing into walls, muttering  
"Dumb fucking Ampora, thinks he can get away with this."  
"Sollux?" Karkat asks and walks over to him.  
"KK. There you are. I was wondering where the hell you'd gotten off to. Why did you just leave me there? I could have died. But luckily all i did was _fall down a flight of stairs_ and knock my fangs out." Karkat just stares at him and clenches his fist and his teeth and furrows his eyebrows. "KK?" Kanaya comes up behind Karkat and hugs him. He twists himself around in her arms and flings his arms around her neck.  
"Shhh. It'll be okay." She whispers and Karkat sniffles.  
"It still hurts, Kanaya."  
"I know dear. But i'm okay. I'm here and i'm not leaving you anytime soon. Okay?" Karkat nods into her shoulder and only just succeeds in not crying.  
"KK, what's wrong? I didn't hurt your feelings did i? Fuck i didn't know you got upset so easily, shit KK i'm sorry..."  
"Sollux, it would be best if you didn't speak for a few moments while Karkat gathers himself." Kanaya cuts in. "It wasn't you." she finishes.  
"Then what's wrong with him?"  
"Sollux, we can discuss this later..."

Honk

"What the fuck was that?" Sollux asks trying to look around and hear for the source.  
"He's back." Vriska says.  
"Who's back?"  
"Makara." Equius says and Sollux jumps.  
"Shit, EQ, you're here too?"  
"Indeed." 

HONK 

A tall figure appears in the shadows, holding club in his hands. Karkat turns out of Kanaya's arms and towards him, flicking his sickle out of his sylladex. But then something catches his eye, and he glances to the left. A bundle of black matter wisps in the air and drops a body onto the floor and disappears. They're dressed in a blue dress and their hood fallen off their head. Brown hair covers their face and their skin isn't the normal troll grey, it's an almost pink colour, they don't even have horns. But the thing that catches his attention the most is the candy red blood flowing from their corpse. Like his own.  
"What was that?" Sollux asks, he had heard the thump they created when landing on the floor.  
"is that one of those humans?" Vriska asks. Karkat stares at them in shock, jaw half dropped and eyes wide, he almost drops his sickle.  
"Riana?" 

And then she begins to glow rainbow colours, slowly rising off the ground and her blood stops flowing from her. She's stood back on her feet and the rainbow colours begin to fade away, revealing her to be Riana.  
"Ugh." She says and rubs her head. Then her eyes flick open wide and she pats her stomach and smiles, then looks around. She blinks numerously and stares at the trolls one by one, finishing with Karkat, and she smiles widely.  
"Hi guys." Is all she manages to say. And then she swings around to come face to face with a silhouetted Gamzee. She jumps backwards, half flying, to join the other trolls. Kanaya glares at her menacingly, Riana just ignores her, she can deal with her later. Gamzee walks forwards swinging the clubs around in his hands, they are still teal and olive coated. And then it clicks in Karkat's brain as he stares at the teal blood.  
"You killed Terezi." He says and snarls. 

And before anybody could stop him he's leaped at Gamzee. 

Gamzee strikes him down as if it were nothing. 

"Karkat!" both Kanaya and Riana shout. Karkat shakes and stumbles back up, he's nose is bleeding. And everybody could see. (Except for Sollux)  
"Karkat, your blood colour is..." Kanaya starts and Karkat growls.  
"Yes. Fuck. I'm a fucking mutant. I'm a fucking candy blooded mutant. Go ahead, cut off out Moirallegiance, i wouldn't blame you, i wouldn't a mutant Moirail either." But before anybody could say anything else, Gamzee's struck Karkat again. Riana snarls, baring her newly formed fangs and leaps. She rolls under Gamzee's swing and trips him, grabbing Karkat and leaping back to rest him against Kanaya.  
"Wait. KK, you're a mutant?"  
"Sollux! There's no time for this!" Kanaya hisses and Sollux flinches. Riana leaps back at Gamzee before he could stand back up and pulls back a fist, and just as she was about to collide with his face, Gamzee whips up and headbutts her in the forhead, blurring her vision and knocking her back. She can feel blood begin to flow from her head and into her eyes, damn that clown's got one hard head.

Then Equius walks forwards, every bone in his muscles screaming at him not to, but foot by foot he resists the urge to bow before the highblood. He needs to die, he killed his Moirail. Gamzee stands back up and stares Equius in the eyes,  
"Hey my blue blooded brother. COMING BACK TO FINISH THE JOB? Not likely. NOT MOTHER FUCKING LIKELY." Gamzee swings his club but Equius catches it right out of the air and crushes it in his hand, a snarl ripping on his lips. He grabs the Indigo blood's shirt and whacks him in the face, sending him back after Equius had let go. Vriska flinches at the bleeding Gamzee on the floor, and everybody looks at her, except for Karkat who had passed out cold. She furrows her eyebrows and takes in a shaky breath, stepping forwards and in between Equius and Gamzee. Gamzee stands back up, rubbing his nose, it had re-broken. He notices Vriska and goes to grab his undamaged club, but before he can Vriska had grabbed his shoulders and slightly shaken him. A confused look crosses everybody's face, Sollux in a completely different way, he has no clue as to what was going on. 

And then she paps his face. 

And then shooshes him. 

Those who were witnessing this blinked rapidly as she continued to shooshpap him.  
"Shhhh, you stupid clown. Calm the fuck down and snap out of it. Shhhhh." She paps his cheek and his messy head of hair, his chest and back to his cheek. Gamzee lets out a surprised honk. Followed by a series of shallower ones. "Shhhhhhhhhhhh" Vriska whispers. The rapid blinking of Gamzee's eyes begins to slow as his eyelids droop slightly. "That's right. Shhhhh. It's okay now. You're okay now. Shoooooosh. sh sh sh." And then his eyes widen and he becomes extremely loud again. "Shhhhh! Calm down! Shhhh! Shh Shh Shh sh. That's good. Gamzee, look at me. Shhh. calm. You're calm okay? You're calm. Shhhhh." All the rage washes from his eyes and he gives Vriska his old lazy smile and Vriska paps him for the last time on the cheek before receiving a hug from him. She's hesitant at first, but then pats his back in a return hug.  
"Thanks spider-sis." He whispers and Vriska sighs.  
"Yeah."

"What."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vriska what the fuck man you've changed.
> 
> (Partly because i don't like mean Vriska unu)


	25. 25

"What." They all say again.  
"What? What's going on?" Sollux asks.  
"I... I don't know." Kanaya stares at the embracing pair in disbelief.  
"Did... did Vriska and Gamzee just become _Moirails_?" Riana asks. Vriska pulls away from Gamzee and looks at them all.  
"Get over it." She says and crosses her arms.  
"Nevertheless, it is good to see Gamzee has returned from his murderous state. And that you were willing to help calm him down, Vriska. We thank you." Kanaya interrupts and Vriska nods.  
"No, it's fine. You're welcome." She sighs and Gamzee has his lazy smile stuck on his face, Vriska looks at him in sympathy. "He needs a Moirail." Riana blinks in shock as the glasses on her face blink in front of her, she opens up pesterchum to answer William. 

\-- friendlySubjugator  [FS] began pestering wakingDragons  [WD] \--

FS: riana.  
FS: are you alright? did you arrive safely?   
WD: yeah, i'm fine.   
FS: oh you changed your text.   
FS: but never mind that.   
FS: i need you to get the meteor going.   
FS: we're getting out of here.   
WD: what? why?   
FS: apparantly our session is doomed to faliure, according to Eva.   
FS: er, the seer.   
WD: right.   
FS: we're here busy scratching the session.   
FS: i'll explain everything later, just get the meteor moving somehow.   
WD: but, to where?   
FS: i think you know.   
WD: the green sun?  
WD: but that hasn't been created yet.   
FS: no, but it will be.   
WD: what? by who?   
FS: who do you think.   
WD: wait... you're not actually thinking of creating it are you?  
FS: no. i don't need to. and besides, it'll take too long for the little time we have.   
WD: what? i don't understand.   
FS: like i said, i'll explain everything later. Just get it moving.   
FS: when you see the green sun, go.   
WD: but how?   
FS: you have sollux there. you're prepared.   
WD: but he doesn't have the slightest clue to what's going on! and he won't listen to me, because you know how he apparantly despises humans. I can't ask Karkat to ask him, because he's knocked out cold. I can't ask Kanaya, she hates my guts. Equius wouldn't want to talk to him, and Gamzee and Vriska, well, they're currently occupied.   
FS: so who stopped the clown?   
WD: Vriska.   
FS: seriously?   
FS: well, whatever. what about eridan?   
WD: i don't know.   
FS: well, in any case. i need you to get the meteor moving.   
FS: we're counting on you riana.  
WD: but i wouldn't know how.  
FS: don't you have terezi there?   
WD: no. I don't think she can be here. If you know what i mean.   
FS: oh... do you know who...   
WD: no. my guess is Gamzee though.   
FS: um. okay.   
FS: well, i really need you to do this for us. it'll take a while for us to scratch this thing, but we'll meet you at the green sun anyway.   
FS: please just trust me riana.   
WD: okay William, i trust you.   
FS: we're all counting on you.

\-- friendlySubjugator  [FS] ceased pestering wakingDragons  [WD] \--

Well, that just put a load on her shoulders. Karkat is only just coming to though, and when his eyes open he sits up  
"What the fuck happened." he asks and rubs his head.  
"Karbro, i didn't knock you up too mother fucking bad, did I?" Gamzee walks over to Karkat and he flinches away from him. Vriska walks up behind Gamzee and puts a hand on his arm on his shoulder.  
"Fuck, what did i miss?" He asks and Riana walks over to him, receiving a glare from Kanaya.  
"Well, only the fact that Gamzee and Vriska are now Moirails, nothing too extreme." She says the last bit sarcastically.  
"Moirails? Seriously?"  
"Yes seriously! why can't people get that?"  
"It's just so... different is all." Kanaya says.  
"Well, in any case, i think we need to do something about that fuckass over there before he falls over the edge." Karkat points to Sollux who is still wandering around aimlessly. But when he goes to stand up his vision blurs and he gasps. The his eyes flick open. "Shit. SHIT."  
"What's wrong Karkat?" Kanaya asks.  
"Yeah, as if you don't know."  
"This is about your blood colour, isn't it?" Riana asks and Karkat nods, hiding his face.  
"You probably all think low of me now. And probably want nothing to do with me. I would understand. go ahead, cull me. i don't fucking care anymore now my secret's out of the fucking bag."  
"Karkat, it doesn't matter what your blood caste is. Although shocking and rather surprising, we do not think any lower of you. You are still one of us and we shall not treat you any differently now that you blood has been revealed." Kanaya states and Karkat looks up at her.  
"Really?"  
"Yes."  
"Though it protests against my very will to say this, i too believe that the revealation of your blood colour will not affect your status here. We have already lost too many, and culling you would be, and i say again that it goes against my very inner being, quite ludicrous." Equius says and begins to perspire at the effort.  
"See, even the big sweaty douchebag doesn't care about your blood. Mind you it is quite funny to find this out." Vriska says, earning yet another glare from Kanaya.  
"Yeah, right. At any rate, we have bigger problems on our hands." Riana says and they all look at her. "Our session is about to be scratched, apparantly it's doomed and we have to escape before it's destroyed. Ad the only way to do that is to get this meteor moving." 

"Excuse me." Equius says.  
"You cannot possibly be able to scratch your session, you don't have a time player to do so." Kanaya says.  
"Actually, they do." Vriska chimes in and everybody gazes at her. "While you lot were fussing over those four, i found that they have another set of players. I only spoke to the seer, she is a time player."  
"Okay... but where will we be headed to?" Sollux asks, wandering over to their voices.  
"The green sun."  
"But..." I don't know any more about it, i was only told that we had to get this meteor there when the sun is created."  
"Okay then, how?" Karkat asks. A moment of silence falls between them all.  
"Sollux. Will you be willing to get us there?" Kanaya asks. Everybody turns to him.  
"But i don't know where the fuck i'm going!"  
"We'll direct you there."  
"I..."  
"Please Sollux." Riana begs, and Sollux's eyebrows furrow.  
"I don't even fucking know you! why the fuck should i do you any favours?"  
"Sollux, please. This will be the last we ask of you." Kanaya says abd Sollux sighs and closes his eyes.  
"Fuck. FUCK. Okay. For you guys. this better be worth it  
"Thank you Sollux." 

\-- friendlySubjugator  [FS] began pestering wakingDragons  [WD] \--

FS: it's almost fully scratched, are you ready?   
WD: yeah.   
FS: alright, according to mine and Eva's calculations, the sun is on the verge of being created.   
FS: we'll meet you there.   
WD: yeah.

\-- friendlySubjugator  [FS] ceased pestering wakingDragons  [WD] \--

"We should be getting to somewhere where we can see this take place." She says and walks out of the room, not exactly knowing where she's going. Kanaya drags Karkat along and Vriska grabs Sollux's arm and drags him along with them. They find themselves on one of the balconies to the building and Riana searches the sky. Karkat limps over to her, managing to walk by himself. He drags Sollux from Vriska and next to him, searching the sky.

They're nearly blinded by a brilliant green flash. 

"There." Riana says and Sollux points ahead of them, but not in the direction of it.  
"No, there Sollux." Karkat grabs his arm and points him in the right direction. Sollux closes his eyes and concentrates, the meteor shifts forwards, and then takes off. His eyes sockets begins to bleed as he puts as much effort as he can to get them there, a grunt escaping him as he does so. The green sun gets closer and closer until it comes into full view, and Sollux slows it to a stop, and finally drops from the pressure. They see two figures approach them, one with a beaming smile on her face, the other baring only a straght line.  
"Aradia?" Equius asks in disbelief.  
"Hey guys! It's nice to see you again. And you must be Alec's friend." She smiles at Riana and she nods. But before anybody could say anymore, a black sphere appears next to them, and the smiling faces of her friends appear, along with the new ones. William embraces Riana and she seems quite shocked.  
"You made it."  
"Of course i did. You expected me not to?"  
"See, i told you to trust me." Riana nods and continues,  
"So how did it go?" Eva comes up from behind him and says,  
"It was a complete success."  
"Eva, right?" She nods and holds out a hand.  
"You must be Riana."  
"Yeah."  
"Don't you think we should be going?" Nic asks and Riana nods.  
"William, what about the planets..."  
"Don't worry, they're taken care of. I may not be able to shrink them, but i can teleport them to our destination." All the trolls and Raine all seem confused at William's comment, but soon brush it off.  
"Alright then! Are you ready for your journey?" Aradia asks, and Equius looks a bit stunned.  
"Wait, you're not accompanying us?" Aradia shakes her head.  
"Sorry Equius, Sollux and I have some things to do around here..." Aradia get's cut off by a loud sparking noise and they all look over. Riana gasps at what she sees. 

"Was that..." She starts but trails off.  
"Yes. That was them."  
"Who?" Raine asks, William smiles.  
"The beta kids." Raine shakes her head, confused.  
"Alright, Sollux. let's get them moving. Hold on guys, this'll be a rough ride." Aradia says and both Sollux and Aradia fall back, the beta meteor had flown from view by now and is only a small spot in the distance. They slowly begin to move forwards, and within moments, they're blasting off towards the alpha universe, waving goodbye to Sollux and Aradia as they fade from view.

 

\-- END ACT 1--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp. that's it for Act 1. Act 2 is coming up. I'm not making the acts separate parts to the series, as i have something else in mind for part 2.
> 
> if there are any errors throughout the fic, please feel obliged to point them out to me, i would highly appreciate it. and thank you for the extremely nice comments and for keeping with me as far as you have!
> 
> ^u^


	26. 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ACT 2, year 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> because i couldn't help posting another chapter so soon.

It's been a little more than a week since we left, William and Eva have explained everything thoroughly to me so i am now up-to-date with everything. William had summoned our sprites onto the meteor, apparently all of them still await their second prototyping, this was actually a problem. As we were discussing what to prototype them with, a certain clown decided to throw the deceased in each, all except for William's. Partly because there wasn't enough bodies to prototype with, and partly because William had a score to settle with him. 

Feferi was prototyped with Alec's sprite, Nepeta with Eva's (which was sort of ironic because it was her not-so-dead-beforehand cat), Tavros with Raine's, (god i fell so sorry for him, two sets of large horns), Terezi with Jamie's, a model of a snake. Sollux (who nobody thought actually died until Kanaya checked his pulse a few hours after leaving) with Nic's, he's a dark person, Nic is, not only in personality but also in the literal term of his skin colour. He has an obsession with everything dark and magical (funny, he's a Mage of Rage). His sprite's first prototyping was a statue of one of those three headed dogs, whatever they're called. Could you imagine how ecstatic Sollux was? Apparently not very much because it wasn't two. And Eridan was prototyped with Ben's, i tell you, the guy's obsessed with Pokemon, his prototyping was a figure of what's his face, Haunter. 

This really pissed Karkat off. 

Gamzee spends most of his time in the vents, only coming out occasionally when Vriska orders him to, so they can have a feelings jam or something. Kanaya is the opposite, she spends most of her time in the center of the meteor, raising the Mother grub. But when she does come out, she's usually bickering at me, saying i still haven't apologised to Karkat and that i should do so immediately. I just roll my eyes. But there were times where we had our fair share of 'black' moments, i wasn't entirely certain whether she was black for me until just two days ago. 

"Your failure in apologising to my Moirail is beginning to frustrate me. You seem to just refuse to do so, it's intolerable. Do you lack the ability to apologise, or are you just that insufferable that you just choose not to?" She had said.  
"Oh my god, shut the fuck up!"  
"No. I shall not engage in such ridiculous acts. I will continue to speak until you express to Karkat your sincerest of apologies."  
"My fucking god! He doesn't want to be apologised to! He doesn't _care_! He calls everybody else worse names that i ever did! Or do you just not see that?!"  
"Like i have stated before, it is in Karkat's nature to act verbally violent towards others."  
"So you see why he doesn't care!"  
"He indeed does." That's when i snapped and quite literally roared. Before either of us knew it, my fist had connected with her cheekbone and she'd fallen down. She snarls, her luminous glow intensifying and she leaps at me, pinning me to the ground. I flipped her off me and pushed her shoulders into the ground, and slammed her head into the ground. She curls her legs under me and kicked me right off her, sent me back and sliding across the ground, she leaped again. She grabbed at my neck and i choked for a second before managing to elbow her in the ribs, but she didn't let go, instead dug her claws into my neck, a gasped. I had swung my head forwards and into hers, making both of our foreheads begin to bleed. 

That was probably a really bad idea, my vision had begun to blur then. Using my claws, i tore at her arm to release her strangle hold on me, and then i bit into her shoulder with my fangs, my tiger senses began to take over. She put her palm on my forehead and slammed my head into the ground and pulled at the neck of my hood, revealing my neck and i gasp as she bit me. 

The bitch actually bit me. 

It stung like fuck too, i snapped at her and clawed at her cheek, pushing her back far enough so she couldn't reach me with her fangs. She snarled, and then slapped me, her claws raked across my cheek making me release her for a moment before i gripped at her shirt and attempt to push her back off me again. But she pushed my head back down and her glow was so intense it was almost blinding. 

And then her lips were pressed on mine.

My eyes widened and, still gripping her dress, pushed her off me, her fangs ripping my lip. With all my might i throw her off and i scramble up, wiping her black lipstick from my lips and just staring at her, panting. I slowly raise a finger and point at her,  
"Don't do that. Don't fucking do that. _Ever_. i don't do that blackrom shit. I'm not a fucking troll, and i definitely do not kiss other girls. I don't care if we fight, i can handle that. Just don't fucking kiss me ever again. got it?" I shake and Kanaya smirks and turns around, her tattered dress (that i tattered hehehe) falling behind her. I snarl and look at my own dress, good, it didn't sustain any damage, god tier cloth is quite strong. This is the only dress that i will wear, i don't want it ruined, maybe i should alchemise some more casual clothes. 

And two days later i had, a light blue skivvy with a darker blue shirt over the top with the breath symbol emblazoned on the breast, and darker yet bell bottom pants, also yellow sneakers. Speaking of alchemising, our number one priority is alchemising food. I don't know where the alchemiter came from, i think William teleported one here from his planet. I haven’t seen Kanaya ever since that incident and Karkat seems to be getting lonely. 

It also turns out that one of our human companions are just a little bit more than homosexual, Vriska seems to be flirting towards Eva, and Eva is nothing but flirtatious right back at her. This truly shocked me when I figured it out. Jesus fuck, they’ve only known each other a week and they’re already hitting on the other… I stop that thought when I remember Karkat’s confession, and I blush deeply. I need to talk to him about that, when I get the guts to. I watch from the distance as Vriska presses her hand against Eva’s brown one, (although it’s lighter than Nic’s), and then links her fingers through each other. I turn away and walk down the hall towards my bedroom and fall on my bed, fiddling with my glasses, when suddenly I’m getting trolled by Karkat, how coincidental. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling wakingDragons  [WD] \-- 

CG: GOD, IT’S GOING TO TAKE A WHILE TO GET USED TO THIS TEXT COLOUR.   
CG: ANYWAY.   
CG: I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU ALL DAY, WHERE ARE YOU?   
WD: right at this present moment? I’m in my room.   
CG: RIGHT.   
CG: ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, MAJORLY IMPORTANT.   
WD: yes I am. I am talking to you. 

Did I really just type that? Too late now. I blush incredibly, and I can tell Karkat did too. 

CG: UM.   
CG: THANKS.   
WD: so, what did you need?   
CG: WELL, I’VE BEEN SEEING LESS AND LESS OF KANAYA LATELY, FUCK, I HAVEN’T SEEN HER FOR TWO DAYS. TRUTHFULLY I’M KIND OF FUCKING WORRIED. SHE’S BEEN DOWN THERE FOR TWO DAYS, I’M NOT EVEN SURE IF SHE’S EATEN OR ANYTHING.   
WD: did you know she attempted some black actions towards me the other day?   
CG: BUT SHE’S ALWAYS BLACK FLIRTING WITH YOU.   
WD: no, this was different. Very different. She acted physically black towards me, not just verbally.   
CG: YOU MEAN SHE MADE OUT WITH YOU.   
WD: attempted yes. But we are falling off topic here. Why did you want to know if I was doing anything important?   
CG: WELL, ER. WITHOUT KANAYA HERE, AND VRISKA OFF WITH EITHER GAMZEE OR THAT EVA GIRL. THERE’S NO ONE HERE TO TALK TO. I DON’T PARTICULARLY WANT TO TALK TO THE REMAINDER OF THE TROLLS, AND QUITE FRANKLY, THE ONLY OTHER HUMAN THAT I CAN STAND IS WILLIAM, BUT HE’S BUSY. SO I WAS WONDERING WHETHER, YOU KNOW, YOU WANTED TO HANG OUT. OR SOMETHING.   
WD: Karkat.   
CG: FUCK I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN. JUST IGNORE ME THEN I’LL GO HIDE IN THE CORNER FOR THE REST OF MY PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A LIFE.   
WD: I would love to hang out with you.   
CG: I MEAN WHY WOULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT TO… WAIT. YOU WILL?   
WD: of course. Nothing would make me happier.  
CG: REALLY?   
WD: yes! Of course I will Karkat.   
CG: HAHA. WELL. COOL.   
WD: shall I meet you in main hall? Watch a movie or something?   
CG: YEAH. THAT, THAT SOUNDS NICE.   
WD: okay. I’ll meet you there.   
CG: OKAY. 

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling wakingDragons  [WD] \-- 

Oh my god.

I shake out of my shock and shove the glasses in my pocket, collecting some movies from the cabinet next to my bed, just in case Karkat can’t decide and making my way to the main hall. I run the conversation in my head over and over, trying to decipher whether this was just a friendly gathering, or he actually just _asked me on a freaking date._ I’ve only ever been on the former, so my heart was beating like a million miles an hour. I arrive at the hall and sit down as elegantly on the couch as I can, there were a few people/trolls/sprites gathered, Nepeta was curled up on the couch next to me, flinching when I sat down. Terezi was sitting/floating with Raine, Alec was sitting in the corner playing on his Nintendo 3DS, and Tavros was explaining Fiduspawn to Ben. Then the door slides open and I look to see Karkat enter, he almost looks decent, his hair was combed but still a mess, he wasn’t wearing his usual old black sweater and pants, he was wearing what looked more like silk pyjamas with his symbol (in red may I add) emblazoned on the breast pocket.  
“If I knew we were getting dressed up I would have changed.” I say and he blushes.  
“Uh, no. No, you look fine. I was just alchemising different outfits and experimenting. You look, just fine.” He blushes and I smile.  
“Thanks Karkat, you look pretty good yourself.”  
“Uh.” Is all he says, and his face turns bright red, smiling because he can finally lush in front of everyone, it looks like a load has been taken off his shoulders, there aren’t as many bags under his eyes, and he seems a lot more friendly.  
“Hmmm, what’s going on here?” Alec says, looking up from his game. We both turn to him and snarl; he shrinks back down and continues on with his video game. I stand up and pat the wrinkles from my trousers and walk next to Karkat as we exit the room.  
“What movie were you thinking of?” I ask and he looks at me, his cheeks still bright red.  
“Uh, well, I hadn’t really thought that far.” He rubs the back of his head.  
“Well, I’ve got some. They’re only earth ones though. I’m not sure whether you’d like them or not. Here, take your pick.” I pull the stack of movies from my sylladex and pass them to him. He flips through them, reading the back and moving onto the next. He stops at the very last one and reads the back.  
“Vampires, huh? That’s like the human equivalent to rainbow drinkers, right?”  
“Yeah.” he sighs, no doubt thinking about Kanaya, he passes the other five discs back to me and I captchalogue them again. He chose _Twilight_ , seriously. I sigh inwardly, and we continue forwards to the entertainment hall, the one where movies are watched and games are played. I push the disc into the DVD player and watch as it rolls the introductory scene.

_I’d never given much thought to how I would die- though I’d had reason enough in the last few months- but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this._

I sigh and sink into the couch, Karkat watching the screen in curiosity. Once the movie is over, Karkat points something out,  
“Rainbow drinkers can’t be vegetarians. They don’t have reason to, they can control how much they drain, it’s not as if it were a drug or something they are addicted to, as it says it is here. And they don’t have venom, you can’t pass being a rainbow drinker on just by biting them, it’s fucking ridiculous.”  
“I know.” Is all I say.  
“Now let’s watch a _real_ movie.” He stands up and takes the disc out, shoving another disc in.  
“This isn’t one of your romcoms is it? Because I really am not into the romantic crap. Do you see why I don’t like _Twilight_?”  
“Er.” He says, and flicking his eyes from right to left.  
“How about we go for a walk instead? Hm? Come on.” I stand up, hesitating whether to take his wrist or not and decide for it. I pull him out the door letting the starting scene play without turning it off. We walk for a while, and I only just realize that I was still holding his wrist, I jerk away and then blush, and he does the same.  
“So where are we going?” He asks, but i don't answer, truthfully i don't know. So I just shrug,  
“Just a walk.” So we walk for a while, I occasionally glance over at him, he’s actually taller than most people made him out to be, he’s my height, which is still kind of short. We walk for about five minutes, before we encounter Feferi and Sollux talking to each other, when we walk past they fall silent, but when they thought we were out of hearing range they started talking again, well, I could still hear them anyway. Something about how much they both hate Eridan. We walk out onto one of the many balconies and I lean against the railing, Karkat soon joins me and we watch the stars passing, it reminds me of that screensaver, you know, the ones with the stars flying at you. It also reminds me of a song, and I start humming, and soon before I realize I’m singing.

“Starry, starry night.  
Paint your palette blue and grey,  
Look out on a summer's day,  
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.  
Shadows on the hills,  
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,  
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,  
In colours on the snowy linen land.

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,  
How you suffered for your sanity,  
How you tried to set them free.  
They would not listen, they did not know how.  
Perhaps they'll listen now. 

Starry, starry night.  
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,  
Swirling clouds in violet haze,  
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue.  
Colours changing hue, morning field of amber grain,  
Weathered faces lined in pain,  
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.”

Apparently ascending to god tier improves your singing voice too. How does that even work? I continue whistling the rest of the song and Karkat looks at me, blinking in amazement. Once I had finished his mouth opens a slither.  
“That… that was actually really… beautiful.” We both blush and I smile.  
“Thanks.” I look at his hand on the railing, and then at mine, sliding it ever closer to his, pale in comparison to his grey skin tone. Then I link my pinkie over his and he flinches, looking at me again, a smile spreading across his face.  
“Could… could you maybe… sing again?” He blushes furiously and looks down at the deck closing his eyes and waiting for an answer. I smile and take a slight breath, that’s when I realize I don’t know what song to sing. So I choose the one I was listening to earlier today:

“I haven’t ever really found a place where I call home.  
I never stick around quite long enough to make it.  
I apologise once again I’m not in love.  
but it’s not as if I mind that your heart ain’t exactly breaking.

It’s just a thought, only a thought.

if my life is for rent,  
and I don’t learn to buy.  
well I deserve nothing more than I get.  
cause nothing I have is truly mine.”

I continue on with the song until it ends and by the end Karkat is smiling so hard and he looks like he’s on the verge of tears and oh my god he is so cute when he smiling he should do it more often I just have to…I hug him and he gasps. 

But he hugs me back, tight. And it just feels so right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all you _Twilight_ fans out there, i don't mean to discriminate it all i mean is to express my disinterest in it.
> 
> and i just happened to have a spare copy of _Twilight_ at hand, that's how i knew that starting line.
> 
> the two songs can be found here:
> 
> Starry Starry night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkvLq0TYiwI  
> Life For Rent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFtNChII78k
> 
> by the way i was listening to ^this^ song while writing this chapter. i may or may not have almost cried, i don't know why though.
> 
> (yeah, sorry for the songs though, just to set the mood, you know?)


	27. 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i haven't uodated for a few days, but i've been sick with a cold, and i wasn't sure whether writing would be a good idea. My head was too stuffed up to think properly so yeah, i've still kind of got one now so i'm not sure if this chapter will sound any good or not. and also a p short chapter
> 
> But i wasn't all that lazy, i did make some stuff which i'll post the website for when i get home (writing this at school right now hehehe, and i can't get on tumblr grrrr)
> 
> UPDATE: here  
> http://the-sylphofbreath.tumblr.com/tagged/fic  
> (the first three posts i did while i was absent anyways)

“Well, what do we have here?” Alec walks onto the balcony where Karkat and I are still embracing. Karkat pulls away from me and swings around, and we both give Alec death stares.  
“Alec.” I say and narrow my eyes, he holds up his hands and turns around.  
“Sorry to disturb your little gushy moment, I only wanted to get some air.”  
“Fuck off, would you?” Karkat snarls and Alec shakes his head and lowers his hands, walking back through the door. “Argh.” Karkat sighs, gripping the handrail behind us. I take Karkat’s arm and say,  
“Come on, let’s go back inside.” 

We walk back to the main hall; Alec had found his way back and was slumped on the couch, playing yet another video game alongside William. Equius had joined and Nepeta was curled up next to him, he was apologising to her profusely for some reason, I managed to catch some of it.  
“Nepeta, I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you from Makara, it is my fault that you died, I failed to protect you. I can’t express in words how terribly sorry I am. If I were to pay more attention to you, then maybe you would still be with us in your… original body.”  
“Equius. Purrlease, stop. It wasn’t your fault that I died; I was the silly one that wandered off in the furst place. Purrlease don’t blame yourself, and stop worrying so much about me. I’m fine, see?” She makes a gesture with her hand and Equius nods.  
“I know that you would feel that way, it is in your nature to forgive. But there is nothing you can say that will make me stop blaming myself for this incident…” I tune out there and look around for a place to sit; there is none other than the floor. I roll my eyes and both Karkat and I walk back out. 

We part ways when we exclaim that we’re both pretty tired, and head to our rooms. I swap to my night clothes, just a more rugged version of my previous outfit, and hop straight in bed, falling asleep almost right away.

I find myself in unfamiliar territory, fog hovers all around me and all I can see it two feet in front of me, and everything else is a smoky white. I walk forwards, trying to search for anything, but find nothing. That is until I find myself walking up a slope. It takes me two minutes before I reach the top of the small hill, now able to see out of the fog. Ahead there is a gathering of people where the terrain begins to change. I walk over to them and notice they are all grouped together because behind them is a large sea of water.  
“Ummm.” I say once reaching them, and nearly all eyes are on me. Noticeably, they are all human eyes.  
“Are you dead too?” It was a blunt statement, a male voice, and he walks forwards from the group. He has shoulder length brown hair and ghostly pale skin, and his eyes have no irises nor pupils. He looks to my eyes and his own seem to light up. “You’re not dead?” I shake my head.  
“No.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“I’m positively certain.”  
“Okay then.”  
“Why?”  
“Because the rest of us are.”  
“I can see that, but I mean, why is it such an amazement that I’m not dead?”  
“Well, you see, we’re kind of stuck here and, well, we can’t get out of this place.”  
“Why don’ you conjure up another memory?’  
“None of us can seem to remember much about before, the only one that could was me, and it was this memory. Which isn’t a very pleasant one may I add.”  
“Can I ask what memory it is?”  
“I guess there’s no harm in it. It’s the memory of how I died. I sort of, uh, froze.” I cringe and shiver. “All this ground below us is ice; it was my land, Land of Salt and Ice. And well, salt makes ice melt. So eventually, well, you get the picture.”  
“So what you’re saying is, you want me to think of a memory for you?”  
“Um, yeah.” He rubs the back of his head and looks down. I sigh, I don’t know any of these people, but it’s not as if I’m mean enough to let them all freeze. I close my eyes and think of my land, of when I first entered and when I first got to take a look. 

**Land of Fields and Titanium.**

There’s that familiar feeling of knowing again. Everybody looks around, I look up where my built up house should be but find just the normal roof. I close my eyes once more and when I open them, it towers up to the first gate. I hear gasps of awe and shock as it appears before their very eyes, and then I hear further gasps of terror when imps begin to surround the house. I just smirk and hold my hand close to my chest, the breeze around me begins to pick up, and the imps begin flying around in the air as a cyclone forms. It takes the surrounding imps out and leaves a field full of grist. 

People behind me clap and let go of the breath they were holding. I turn back towards them, and that’s when I notice that the man who was talking to me earlier is actually god tier, a Knight of Life. He frowns when he sees me looking at him and sighs,  
“I died saving a baby consort, penguin, it couldn’t swim, and its parents were too busy stressing to actually do anything.” I bite my lip, that couldn’t have been too pleasant. But before anybody could say anymore, I was wisped away and back into consciousness when I’m awoken by a loud explosion. I throw the blankets off me and run out the door, pale pink smoke filling the air. It dissipates after a few moments and I make my way towards the source. 

But not before I’m bombarded with a low pitched but extremely loud shout. I lay my ears against my head and cover them with my hands, otherwise my eardrums would burst. I was pretty sure that it was somebody shouting someone’s name. No, I was certain.  
“ _Makara!_ ” And I knew it was Equius. I race towards the screech, and don’t realize that I’ve actually bent down onto all fours until I nearly ram into the wall. I blink for a second before continuing towards him. I find him in Gamzee’s face, gripping him by his shirt, sweat pouring down his face and… and…

Were they tears?

His fist slams into Gamzee’s cheekbone, and I can just hear the unearthly _crack_ it makes and I wince, his cheek is most definitely broken now. When he hits the floor, his cheek isn’t the only thing he’s clutching, but also his ears, his shout must have ruptured something in his ears, especially being that close.  
“What happened?” I ask and Equius looks at me, tears still streaming down his cheeks. He says one word, a name.  
“Nepeta.” And then he’s gone.  
“Gamzee! Fuck, what happened to you?!” Vriska shouts, rounding the corner I came from. He doesn’t answer her but instead nurses his face. “Gamzee, Gamzee answer me!” But he still doesn’t. Instead I do.  
“Equius decked him.” Vriska stares at me, a look of pure horror in her eyes, but then collects Gamzee in her arms and shooshing him, Gamzee’s whimpering, I never ever thought Gamzee would be one to whimper.  
“I…” Gamzee mutters, tears collecting in his own eyes. “Cat-sis. Nep…” He continues in a whisper. “She… I was just all up and getting my mother fucking apologising on, at the same time Equius was, and she… she all up and exploded.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor Nepeta, again. and i hate to say but (spoiler alert) she's not going to be the only one to go.


	28. 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Raine is taking NONE of Vriska's shit

"She... She what?" I ask, astonished.  
"I... I didn't mean to... all i wanted to do was all up and apologise to Nepeta, you know for... for hurting her. I... didn't know this would happen... mother fuck, Equius is gonna fucking kill me, ain't he." It wasn't a question exactly, Vriska just holds him tighter, a look of real fear in her eyes, i never would have pictured her as one to cuddle.  
"No, Gamzee, i won't let him do that to you. I won't let him hurt you any more than he has. I'll have a word with him." Now her eyes light up with anger, i step forwards.  
"No, it's okay, i'll talk to him..."  
"No, fuck you you're only a fucking human, what the fuck would you be able to do?" She snaps, startling me and a snarl pulls onto my lips at her raised voice. I immediately slap my hand over my lips and she glares at me. But before i could retaliate, i'm being pestered.

\-- hiddenUtopia  [HU]  began pestering wakingDragons [WD] \-- 

HU: did you hear that?   
HU: that explosion?   
WD: yeah.   
HU: what was it? where did it come from? was anybody hurt?   
WD: apparently Gamzee was attempting to apologise to Nepeta while Equius was.   
WD: it probably put a lot of pressure on her.   
WD: and, well.  
WD: i think you can guess what happened.   
HU: she exploded?   
WD: yeah.  
WD: poor Nepeta.  
HU: poor, poor nepeta.   
HU: um, how did equius take it?   
WD: it hit him pretty hard.  
WD: and so did Gamzee.  
WD: with Equius' fist.  
HU: i don't blame him for hitting him.  
HU: i'd be pretty damn upset too if my best friend exploded.  
WD: Moirail.   
HU: yeah i know. i was just using an example though  
WD: oh.   
HU: so is gamzee alright?   
WD: he seems alright now, Vriska is here assuring him that everything will be anyway.   
HU: vriska's there too?   
WD: yeah. i think she wants to hit Equius for hitting her Moirail.   
HU: and she probably will. i wouldn't try to stop her either.   
WD: well, i'm going to go see if Equius' alright, against Vriska's protests. I'll talk to you late huh.   
HU: yeah, okay, tell vriska i said i'll see her later.  
WD: will do. 

\-- hiddenUtopia  [HU]  ceased pestering wakingDragons [WD] \-- 

I turn back to Vriska and she's still glaring at me.  
"Eva said she'll see you later." And with that i took off before she could reply. I follow the large cracks in the hallways, where Equius's feet were pounding on the floor no doubt. I end up finding him in one of the darkest parts of the meteor halls, but at this point it wasn't so dark, because he had a visitor. Raine was sitting next to him with a ball of light held next to her chest and she was talking to Equius before i arrived. They stop and look up at me. I look from Equius to Raine and back to Equius again, and then deciding to say something.  
“Hey, Equius. Are you alright?” It was a dumb question, he just watched his Moirail die… _again_ , Raine shakes her head and puts a hand on Equius’ shoulder, making him flinch.  
“He won’t speak to me, he’s only whispering Nepeta’s name.” And just to prove her point he mutters ‘Nepeta.’ I flop down on the ground next to her and swear.  
“Fuck. Shit, Equius, you must be in a world of hurt.” I barely catch it but he nods slightly.  
“Why, what happened?”  
“Nepeta, she… she just exploded right in front of Equius.” Raine claps her hand over her mouth and her eyes widen.  
“Oh, that… that’s _horrible_. I’m so sorry Equius.” She turns back to him and furrows her eyebrows; we could both see blue begin to flow down from under his glasses. “Oh, Equius. I.. I didn’t mean to make you sad. I’m sorry.” She puts a hand on his arm again, her shoulders slumping.  
“No, it’s alright.” It was barely an audible whisper.  
“No, it’s not alright. I know I can’t understand because I’ve never really had anyone close to me die before,” ouch, that’s going to hurt explaining that she actually has, she just doesn’t know it, “well, except for William that is, but he came back to life, as well as Riana and Alec. But that’s not the point, I just want you to know that, just because I don’t understand, it doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and help you through this.” He looks up at her, there’s a sad smile on her face, I can see through his glasses and with Raine’s light that his eyes are wide and he’s blinking. He nods a little and Raine’s face glows a bit brighter. 

“Hey.” 

We all look up to see Vriska storming around the corner, her face hurt and intent and _furious_ , it’s really kind of scary and intimidating. “Yes, you fuckhead. What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Why the _fuck_ would you hit my Moirail? He was only fucking apologising you fucking _ass_!” She shouts and powers towards Equius. And then with a swift movement she’s clutched him by the shirt and fuck she’s stronger than she looks, she lifts him up off the ground and begins to hover herself, wings fluttering on her back. “You DO NOT blame my Moirail for something YOU could have prevented in the first place. You DO NOT just LEAVE somebody after you have fucking BROKEN THEIR FUCKING FACE. And most of all you _DO NOT FUCKING HURT MY MOIRAIL IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE_! Understand?” Vriska gives Equius the most menacing glare I have ever seen, and I’ve been seeing a lot of menacing glares these days. Equius doesn’t say anything but instead closes his eyes, which I can see him do because his glasses have fallen half way down his face. “If you even _touch_ my Moirail again, I’m not going to be able to restrain myself from hurting you.” She’s baring her fangs, and I see Raine stand up beside me.  
“Hey.” She says and Vriska’s head snaps towards her.

And then she is literally up in her face with her fist connecting with her cheekbone. 

My jaw hits the floor, Raine doesn’t punch people, she has never hurt a person in her life, let alone punched someone. Vriska’s thrown back and hits the floor, dropping Equius to the ground and he lands with a thump, his glasses falling to the floor and he replaces them on his face. I see he has a rather shocked look on his face. Once Vriska had stopped sliding across the ground, she looks up at her, Raine has her head tilted up slightly and she’s looking down at Vriska and _fuck_ she looks threatening. And it doesn’t help that she’s floating and there’s a lighting glow she’s emitting.  
“You threaten him again and there will be more from where that came from.” She says simply. I just stare at her as she lowers herself to the ground and stops glowing, helping Equius up and asking whether he was alright as they walked down the hall. I just blink alongside Vriska. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> over protective Vriska much?


	29. 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cried again, although that's just me being soft hearted

The next day... well that's what it felt like anyway... i was sitting on my bed reading, yesterday’s events still running through my head, when my glasses on my forehead light up, inviting me to a memo. 

\-- redeyedHellmaker  [RH]  opened memo on board WE NEED TO TALK -- 

RH: okay first things first, there’s something I really need to know.   
RH: raine did you really punch Vriska?   
thunderingHeavens [TH] joined memo   
TH: well what else was I supposed to do?   
TH: she was threatening equius and somebody needed to stop her.   
RH: so I’m taking that as a yes.  
RH: well I just want to give you a big ol’ pat on the pack for that, takes guts to stand up to that girl.   
TH: uh, thanks?   
arachnidsGrip  [AG] responded to memo.   
AG: the only reason I was thr8tening him was 8ecause he punched and 8ROKE my moirails jaw.   
AG: you expected me to react any differently?   
TH: Gamzee made nepeta explode, you expect HIM to react any differently?   
AG: yes! Gamzee didn’t make nepeta explode, he was only apologizing for his mist8ke!   
AG: I thought that would 8e what he wanted!   
wakingDragons  [WD]  responded to memo.   
WD: yeah but he could have done it at a different time, when Equius wasn’t with her, it must have put a lot of pressure on her to have them both apologising to her at once.   
AG: what was equius even apologizing for? Nothing! That’s what.   
WD: for failing to protect her from your Moirail, he obviously feels as though he’s to blame somehow. It’d be just like him.   
AG: how would you know what he’s like??????? You have only known him for a week, that’s not long enough to decipher what his person8lity is like.   
WD: I know more than you think.   
AG: you’re just a stupid fucking human who doesn’t know shit!!!!!!!! You should shut the fuck up 8efore you get hurt!   
WD: is that a threat I’m hearing?   
AG: hardly!   
friendlySubjugator  [FS]  joined memo.   
FS: guys, stop arguing, this is stupid.   
AG: keep the fuck out of it!   
WD: no, William is right. This is stupid.   
AG: you’re the fucking stupid one.   
TH: there’s no need for that.   
AG: keep your sno88y little human nose out of it.   
TH: no, I don’t think I will, this was between me and you to start with. So why don’t you just back off.   
AG: or wh8t????????   
TH: do you want a matching bruise.   
AG: ha! I can 8arely even feel it.   
TH: fine. Would you like a taste of searing hot light?   
AG: you 8etter not forget you’re not the only one with light powers.   
TH: you’re lucky I’m not there now, or your face would be so scorched.   
WD: was that a pun.   
RH: I think that was a pun   
TH: >:)   
WD: since when do you use emoticons?   
TH: I’ll use them when I want.   
AG: they suit you, it looks exactly like you.   
TH: ooh feel the burn   
TH: that was totally the biggest burn I’ve ever encountered Vriska.   
TH: clap clap clap for the handicap.   
AG: hey, fuck you I am not fucking handicapped!!!!!!!!   
TH: could have fooled me.   
AG: oh you’re asking for it!   
TH: because you sound reeeeeeeeal threatening   
AG: I’ll show you thr8tening…   
AG: did you just use 8 e’s?  
TH: yep. You got a problem with that?   
AG: that’s my thing! you can’t use it!   
TH: waaaaaaaatch meeeeeeee.   
TH: I wiiiiiiiill use aaaaaaaas maaaaaaaany voooooooowel stretches aaaaaaaaas I waaaaaaaaant. Iiiiiiiif you have a prooooooooblem wiiiiiiiith iiiiiiiit you can geeeeeeeet the fuuuuuuuuck oooooooover iiiiiiiit.   
RH: wow holy shit I’ve never seen anybody go to so much effort just to piss someone off. impressive.   
TH: thaaaaaaaankyou alec.   
AG: you are so dead stasse. You hear me? deeeeeeeeaaaaaaaad!!!!!!!!   
FS: this is starting to get very frustrating.   
FS: stop fighting guys it really isn’t cool   
hiddenUtopia  [HU]  responded to memo.   
HU: although this spectacle is very hilarious to read, I have to agree with William, guys.   
HU: fighting over a public memo isn’t a very good idea.   
FS: thank you eva.   
raichusThunder  [RT]  responded to memo.   
RT: awwwww but I was enjoyin readin that. it was funny.   
restlessSouls  [RS]  responded to memo.   
RS: I gotta agree with dopey here. Let em fight, ain’t gonna hurt no one but themselves.   
darkMage  [DM]  responded to memo.   
DM: I completely disagree.   
DM: Jamie your analysis is incorrect. If one were to get hurt, it could affect those who were closely accommodated with them, and therefore creating a chain reaction.   
DM: do you see the falsehood in your statement?   
RS: whateva!   
RS: it’s still pretty damn hilarious if you ask me.   
DM: did anybody, as a matter of fact, ask you?   
RS: er well, no but   
DM: so you see my point.   
RS: well, yeah but… ugh just neva mind.   
RT: awwww niccy just leave james alone. She didn’t do nufin to deserve that. twas only a opinion.   
DM: I have two suggestions for you. One is to never title me ‘niccy’ again, my name is Nic or Nicholas, nothing else. Second, I suggest that you work on your spelling and grammar skills, they are absolutely horrendous.   
RT: awww wat now.   
DM: you are extremely infuriating. I swear that there is something wrong with you mentally.   
HU: Nic, we talked about this.   
HU: you know he gets upset easily, especially when you call him stupid or mentally ill.   
HU: Ben, are you okay.   
RT: he obviosly don’t want me aroun I thinkd be betta for me to leave.   
HU: No Ben, you don’t need to do that, Nic didn’t mean what he said. Did you Nic?  
DM: ugh, if it will settle you yes, I did not mean it. I am sorry I should not have insulted you like that.   
RT: ya mean it?   
DM: yes Ben, I sincerely mean it.   
RT: awwww thanks man.   
DM: rrgh.   
carcinoGeneticist  [CG]  responded to memo.   
CG: HOW DO YOU EVEN GET INSULTED OVER SOMETHING AS STUPID AS THAT.   
AG: karkat shut up.   
WD: hey! Watch it.   
AG: oh wh8t are you going to do? Attack me with your majeeeeeeeestic wind? 8iiiiiiiite me with your viiiiiiiicious fangs???????? Scratch me with your maliiiiiiiicious claws? Oh I’m so scared.   
WD: you should be.   
CG: RIANA IT’S FINE. REALLY.   
WD: you really don’t need to take that from her, but okay, I’ll stop.   
AG: PFF HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HOW FUCKING HILAAAAAAAARIOUS!   
CG: SHUT YOUR INSUFFERABLE SEED FLAP YOU FUCKING NOOKWHIFF.  
AG: why don’t you come over here and make me, karkles.   
CG: HEY! DO NOT CALL ME KARKLES EVER FUCKING AGAIN, UNDERSTAND?!   
AG: I’ll call you whatever the fuck I want. Karkles. Karkitty. Karcra8.   
CG: SHUT YOUR LOAD GAPER OF A FUCKING SEED FLAP BEFORE I TWIST YOU INTO A FUCKING KNOT AND STAB YOU REPEATEDLY WITH MY FUCKING SICKLE!   
AG: Karkles Karkitty.   
CG: FUCKING STOP!   
AG: make me, mutant. 

Okay, that was too far. I ditch the glasses and take off down the hall, on all fours again and heading straight for Karkat’s room. My eyebrows are furrowed in rage, how _dare_ she call him that. How _dare_ she even _think_ of calling him that. I burst into Karkat’s room and grab his arms, pulling him into the biggest hug I can muster up; I can feel his face is wet with tears as he cries onto my shoulder.  
“It’s alright Karkat. Don’t listen to her. Don’t let her get to you. You’re not a mutant. It doesn’t matter that your blood is different. It doesn’t matter, ‘kay? You’re special, you’re not a mutant. You’re not a mutant to me, or Kanaya, or Equius or anybody. Vriska doesn’t know what she’s talking about. It’ll be alright.” I run my fingers through his hair and I hear him sob on my shirt, staining it red. I don’t care. “Don’t let anybody tell you differently. You’re no different than anybody else, you’re special and unique and don’t let anybody take that away from you.” I pat his back and I hear him sniffle.  
“Riana… fuck.” He tries to say but he’s choked with sobs.  
“Shh. It’s alright.” I close my eyes, trying to fight back tears of my own. After a few minutes he takes a few shaky breaths then puts his hands on my shoulders trying to push himself back, another shaky breath. There’s still rivers of red pouring down his cheeks, I rest my forehead on his and I can feel him shaking all over. He pulls back a bit so he can look at me, and I look into his candy red eyes.  
“Thanks Riana.” He whispers and I smile.  
“No pro…” but before I could finish my sentence my eyes fly open as he presses his lips on mine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuckin vriska just doesn't know when to shut up, guess she hasn't changed all that much huh.


	30. 30

He pulls back almost straight away and we both blush.  
"Um... I, uh..." he stutters. I blink twice before pulling his chin closer and kissing him again, this time his eyes widen, but kisses back. My first kiss was a lot different than i thought it would be, a lot... better. (First kiss not including Kanaya, that doesn't count.) Parting a few moments later, he looks at me and i see a smile curl up on his lips, and soon they're parting into a beaming smile, i can't help but beam back. And then we both start giggling hysterically. I pull him into a hug again and we eventually stop laughing, pulling back from me and taking my hand instead. He raises his other hand, fingers spread apart and he asks,  
"So..." he blinks again, "Matesprits?" I smile full on again and fold my fingers in his.  
"Matesprits." And then his lips are pressed on mine again.

We walk out his door hand in hand and towards the main hall. But that's when we bump into Vriska, and my face pulls up into a snarl. She just ignores me and looks straight at Karkat, a look of regret on her face.  
"Karkat, i just need to say i'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that it kind of just... slipped. I guess i was just trying to get you pissed off, i wasn't thinking. I'm not usually one to say those things, i don't know why i said it. So, i'm sorry, and i hope you can forgive me. I was just pretty damned mad already because of Equius and Gamzee and, well, you know. So, can you forgive me?" She looks at him with a glint of hope in her eyes. I look at Karkat, his face softens just a little bit from his tense stare at her.  
"Normally i would tell you to fuck off and to leave me the fuck alone and to never talk to me again. But i'm in too god a mood to really care anymore. Yeah, it fucking hurt that you would say that, but deep down, i guess i just don't give a shit." And then we continue walking right past her, leaving her blinking in shock. I dis-contort my face after his speech and grip his hand tighter.  
"Good on you." I say and he looks at me again, smiling again. 

Another few minutes of walking and we run into somebody else, somebody i really don't need to see right now.  
"Karkat, i read what Vriska wrote on that memorandum, you don't feel too diminished do you? Because if you need me to inquire her i will happily knock some gratitude into her..."  
"Kanaya, i'm fine. In fact i couldn't be any better." Kanaya's eyes flick into to our intertwined fingers and then looks at me, her eyes narrowed.  
"I see. Then i shall talk to you at a later time. And you," She points at me, "I will need a word with you later." She walks off after giving Karkat a quick hug and a smile. I blink and Karkat shrugs. 

We arrive at the hall to find everybody staring at us, but Terezi slither/hovers up to Karkat and hugs him with trollish arms (they kind of went a lot thinner when she was prototyped.) Karkat blinks twice and slowly lets go of my hand to hug her.  
"Karklessss, are you alright? " She asks. "I ssssaw what she wrote, it wassss pretty horrible Karklessss. "  
"Wwho cares. Kar'll get ovver it." Eridan says and i roll my eyes. Eridan's voice sounds so scratchy now and haunted... haha pun.  
"Eridan, that's not ferry nice." Feferi crosses her arms and flutters up next to him, purposely whacking him on the back of the head with one of her large, straight wings.  
"Oww, Fef, that glubbin hurt." She smiles a bit at that.  
"Good, you desurf it for more than one thing."  
"Come on Fef, i said i wwas sorry. "  
"that doesn't mako up for what you did." she flutter off again and Eridan chases after her, bickering his apologies towards her. We turn back to Terezi and Karkat nods at her earlier question.  
"Yeah, Terezi. I'm fine. Better than fine." He smiles widely again, taking my hand in his and Terezi looks at us. I can see her droop slightly, then shakes it off and goes back to being cheery,  
"Well that'ssss great! I'm glad you don't feel down about what she ssssaid. Jusst don't let her get to you, 'kay?"  
"'Kay Terezi." She hugs him again and goes back to what she was doing before, apparently that wasn't anything much. Then Sollux comes floating up to Karkat,  
"KK, you sure you're okay?" He cocks all three of his heads, making me giggle inwardly.  
"Sollux, does it look like i'm not okay? I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me." His middle head nods and he floats away. 

"Guys, i'm throwing a movie on, you're welcome to join me." Alec says, peeping inside the door. I look at Karkat and he nods, we exit the room with Terezi, Sollux, Feferi, Eridan, and William and walk down the hall. Karkat, Alec, william and I are the first ones there, so we immediately grab the couch, the others don't seem to mind. Oh great, he had to pic a sad one, one that i've seen about a million times and has to be one of my favourites, _Titanic_. I tune out when they're waving goodbye, by then i'm already too tired. My head flops onto Karkat's shoulder and my eyes drift slowly shut, and i fall asleep again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, i made the sprites the trolls' original blood colours
> 
> Otherwise kind of a boring chapter i guess :/


	31. A2I1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah i was on MSPA playing some of the games and i guess i got inspired...
> 
> but also i had a bit of a writers block for this chapter before playin the games, so i probably babbled on about nothing that made no sense whatsoever. Apologies for the lateness. But i did get many ideas for the future of this fic...

I wake up at the saddest part of the movie, when ‘Jack’ is sinking to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. This part always used to make me cry when I was younger, but now I just sigh. I pull myself up off Karkat’s shoulder and rub my eyes, that’s when I notice Karkat _is_ crying. He’s pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs and red rivers pour down his cheeks.  
“Hey, Karkat, are you alright?” I ask and put a hand on his shoulder; he looks at me and bites his bottom lip to keep the remainder of the tears from coming. It doesn’t work. I pull him into me awkwardly on the couch and he sobs into my shoulder.  
“It’s stupid. I shouldn’t cry over something like this.” He speaks into my shirt.  
“Karkat, it’s alright. Really. I always used to cry over it. In fact it’s good that you can cry over this, it just means you have a heart.”  
“Hey!” some of the others hiss.  
“So if we don’t cry we don’t have a heart, hm?” Alec asks and I roll my eyes and don’t dignify him with an answer.  
“But it’s just so fucking stupid that I’m crying over this. I mean, it’s pathetic that I’d cry over something fake.”  
“Um, actually, it’s not fake. About a hundred years ago, or about fifty sweeps, there was a ship called the Titanic. It was claimed unsinkable, but whoever made that assumption was wrong. One week after the tenth of April, 1910, the day it set sail on its maiden voyage, it crashed into an iceberg, and because of the lack of lifeboats, well, you know what happens. Thousands of people died that day. James Cameron only used Jack and Rose as an analogy of the passengers on board that day.”  
“Who’s James Cameron?”  
“The director of _Titanic_ ” He pulls back from me and nods, wiping at his tear stained cheeks. 

"Karklessss it'll be alright. You don't need to be ssssad. Thissss happened ssssweepssss ago, and wassssn't even our racccce." Terezi says and Karkat nods again.  
"I know that Terezi. But it doesn't make it any easier."  
"Come on Karkat, the movie's nearly over anyway. If it's making you sad we can go." And again he nods and i stand up, taking his wrist and pulling him up. We enter the hall and just walk, he takes my head and i see a small smile spread across his lips.  
"Thanks." He says and i smile.  
"You don't need to thank me." He mutters something else too, something i don't quite catch but i don't bother asking. A few minutes tick by, and we hear another set of footsteps heading towards us and i see a figure emerge from the darkness of the hall. Their Bard outfit makes it obvious who it is, Ben never bothered to alchemise different outfits. He looks at me, lazy grin and eyes partly closed, his normal expression. But then he blinks heavily and his lips curl up higher, revealing his teeth slightly and his eyes are open wide with his head cocked to the side slightly. And speaking of eyes, his irises have changed from mud brown to fuchsia, and his pupils and even lighter fuchsia. And then he blinks heavily again and he's back to normal. Normal lazy grin and shoulders slumped with eyes partly closed once more. He waves and continues walking, i furrow my eyebrows and spin around to watch him leave down the hall. 

"Hey, Ben!" I call out, leaving Karkat's side and Ben turns slightly to face me, his eyes glint fuchsia, but don't exactly change colour entirely. "What the hell was that?" I ask and he turns all the way around.  
"Wha was wha?" He asks lazily, his lips spread in a long upturned line.  
"You just went all weird. Your eyes and your smile and... what the fuck was that?" His eyes widen just the slightest bit and his lips curl up again.  
"d'know wha your talkn 'bout."  
"But..." But before i could finish my protest, i saw something flicker over his head, i'm not sure what it was exactly, but i definitely saw it. And suddenly i don't want to protest anymore.  
"Uh, okay, whatever." I flip him off and go join Karkat again. He looks at me in confusion and i shrug and take his hand again. 

That night i visit the dream bubbles again, as i have every other night. I was wandering through the bubble, it seemed oddly familiar, not as if i'd been here before but as if i'd seen it somewhere. Grassy area, many strangely built houses and a bunch of chests littered all around the neighborhood, and the path under my feet. I follow it and look around; there are tall patches of grass with glowing eyes staring out at me, i tend to avoid them. Walking a little further i come across... wait... is that a _wriggler_? It's body is grub like and it has six black legs, and a troll looking head. So i'm guessing it is. It's body is a maroon red and it hisses at me when i approach it, i immediately back away and continue following the path. I come to a set of stairs, but when walking down them i spot a figure, a white tee-shirt with a violet Aquarius sign emblazoned on his chest. He wears grey pants and has silver streaks through his hair, and an unlit cigarette in his mouth. Oh.

He spots me and looks at me curiously. I continue walking towards him and was about to pass him when he called out,  
"Hey, you. Havwen't seen you around here before. Vwho are you?" I stare at him for a moment, analysing his smirk of a grin, and then decide to answer him.  
"Riana. And you must be Cronus, right?"  
"That's right. Vwho told you? Vwas it Meenah? I bet it vwas Meenah."  
"Um, yeah, how about we just leave it at that." I lie because i really cannot be bothered telling my story. He pulls a sad face and his eyes glimmer,  
"Meenah's alvways dishin out information about people vwithout their permission. It's really hurtful and distrustful." His lip quivers and i roll my eyes. But then he returns to his normal expression and asks, "So, you're a human huh? An also apparently part cat too huh?" He looks at my ears and tail and i shake my head.  
"Tiger actually."  
"Vwell same difference. The fact is is that you're human and i'm kind of really jealous because did you knovw that I believwe that i am in fact a human born into a troll's body?"  
"Uumm..." But he cuts me off before i could answer fully.  
"It's not fair. Nobody believwes me but just makes fun of me. It hurts to knowv that they think that. The rest of us trolls i mean. Kankri's the only one vwho actually shovws some signs of believwin in me. Kankri's a nice guy, havwe you met him? No you probably havwen't. You probably don't vwant to either he's a bit of a chatter box. Kankri's the only one vwho vwas evwer nice to me, you knowv?" His lip starts quivering again and once more i roll my eyes. And then he faces me and looks me in the eyes. "You'vwe got some of the bluest eyes i'vwe evwer seen." Awkward.  
"Ummmm, thanks?" I stretch it out and make it into a question, not sure whether i should feel appreciated or just plain creeped out.  
"Vwell, other than Horuss' a course, but he nevwer shovws his eyes so technically speaking i'vwe nevwer seen them. He's alvways hiding them under that vweird head gear of his. Of course, he doesn't havwe blue eyes nowv that he's dead..." 

_Crash_

Is what we're interrupted by and we both turn to the source. Mituna had just fallen off oh his skateboard and just face planted into the dirt, He stands back up and grabs his board, then looks at me.  
"Woh the fog are you??!!" He points accusingly at me. I smile and he cringes.  
"I'm Riana. You're Mituna right?"  
"Houw do you know may naime??!!"  
"Er..."  
"Avww, Meenah is dishin out the facts about evweryone ain't she. I'm gonna havwe to talk to her later about this."  
"You mean hite on heerrr."  
"Tuna, i'm hurt."  
"Don't chall mui Tuna! Only Tulip can call me Tuna."  
"I mean, i didn't knovw you thought so lovw of me..." I tune out and sneak away before i get too caught up in it. As i continue walking the scenery around me begins to change, from grassy to sand and water, the sand creating a path. I walk a few minutes more before i come across somebody else, somebody more familiar. The short, grumpy figure with his arms crossed looks up at me, he's not dead so he must be dreaming.  
"Who the fuck are you?" Alt-Karkat asks.  
"Riana. You're Karkat, don't bother introducing yourself."  
"How the fuck do you know that?"  
"I know an alternate you."  
"That'd be fucking right."  
"So, what universe/ timeline are you from?"  
"Why the fuck do you care? And how the fuck am i supposed to know anyway?"  
"Do you know Rose and Dave?"  
"Of course i fucking know them, hiw the fuck do _you_ know them?"  
"Because reasons." He pulls a face.  
"What that doesn't even make any sense." I snicker to myself. "What the fuck is so funny?"  
"It's just that my Karkat said the exact same thing when i told him 'because reasons.' The _exact_ same words. It's funny."  
"It's not fucking funny. And who really gives a shit about some alternate Karkat, he's probably a major fucking fuckass who's fucked things up even worse than me."  
"I wouldn't say that."  
"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" I smile slightly.  
"His blood colour has been revealed. To everyone surviving." His arms become uncrossed and his jaw drops, eyes widening in shock.  
" _What_? That douchebag reveled his blood colour?! Fuck. FUCK!"  
"Relax, it's not as if it effects you. and besides, it was actually a really good thing."  
"Fuck, how can that be a good thing?'  
"Well, lets just say it's as if a major burden had been taken off his shoulders. He smiles a lot now and doesn't shout as often, or curse for that matter. He can blush cry and whatever freely, it really helped him. Overall he's a nicer person. And the best thing was? nobody gave a shit. I mean, they were all shocked but nobody really even cared. Even Equius."  
"Wait... Equius is alive in your universe? What about Nepeta?" I shake my head sadly.  
"No. She died. Twice."  
"Twice?"  
"Gamzee decided to throw the corpses into our sprites, other than mine of course." I point to my ears and tail and he sort of gasps as if he didn't realise it. "And then she exploded."  
"Oh, shit."  
"Yeah."  
"Who else survived?"  
"Vriska, Alt-you, Equius, Gamzee, and Kanaya... sort of..."  
"You mean Terezi died?" I nod. "Eridan, or Feferi or..." I shake my head, no. "Can i ask who culled who?"  
"Well... damn this a hard topic, and i'm not exactly sure but, My guess is Eridan killed Feferi and half killed Kanaya. Gamzee took Nepeta and Terezi. And Vriska too Tavros. And then... Alt-you sort of killed Eridan, that i'm sure of."  
"What the fuck, really? Why?"  
"Because, Eridan killed, well almost killed, Kanaya, and Kanaya was... is sort of 'your' Moirail."  
"R-really?" I nod.  
"Well, I..." And then he suddenly disappears. He must have woken up. 

And then i wake up, too, to my door sliding open slowly, I look at my visitor.  
"Hi Karkat." I say sitting up in my bed.  
"Shit, i'm an ass you were asleep."  
"No, it's alright Karkat, what did you need?"  
"I well... It's really stupid. I should be able to deal with it but..." I smile sadly at him and he sighs. "Night Terrors. I would have went to Kanaya but she's not in her respite block. I don't know where she is." He sighs and i smile again.  
"C'mere." I say.  
"What?" I pat the side of my bed and shove over. He blushes but walks over to me and lies down next to me. I pull the blankets over the top of us both and wrap my arms around him.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to write Mituna, among other characters >.>


	32. 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Kismesitudes and a Matespritship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i had to make time fly a bit here, seeming YEAR TWO should becoming up in a short while.

A few days pass and We finally see Kanaya come out from the center of the meteor. And almost immediately she pulls me aside to lecture me. She drags me down the hall to her room and pushes me inside, shutting the door behind her.  
"What do you want Kanaya?" I ask and she looks at me.  
"I need to talk to you about your Matespritship with Karkat."  
"Yeah, what about it?"  
"I just have a few things i need to discuss with you."  
"Get on with it."  She stares at me and her eyebrows furrow.  
"Fine." She takes a deep breath and puts a stern look on her face. "All i want to say is that if you ever hurt Karkat i will not hesitate to act on it. If you hurt him or leave him i will find you and hurt you as much as you hurt him tenfold. I will chop you bit by painful bit into pieces, starting with the least vital bits so you could endure the pain that much more. And when you die and become incarnated again, i will then repeat. Are we clear?" I stare at her, i know i should be at least intimidated by her threat, but i'm not. I'm just angry. My fists clench by my side and i snarl.

 And then my right fist has flung out to connect with her cheek.

 "What the _fuck_ do you take me for?! There is no way in _any fucking universe_ that i would hurt him! in fact if anybody were to hurt him, it would be _you_!" I practically spit the last word and she looks at me in shock. I hadn't realized i was pointing at her, i lower my hand and look her dead in the eye. "Because you have Kanaya. You've hurt him more than once."

"I don't understand, when have i ever hurt him?" He head snaps up towards me and just give her the most intent glare i can muster up.

"The other night. Karkat was troubled. He was... having night terrors. Kanaya, he went to look for you but he couldn't find you. So, he had to come to _me_ instead." Her eyes fill with hurt, her gaze leaving me. "Kanaya, look at me." her eyes slowly lock back with mine and i take another breath. "Look, i know you hatching and raising the mother grub is a huge weight on your shoulders and a huge responsibility. I know your race needs you to do this, but, Kanaya, Karkat needs you too." I can see jade green tears begin to form in her eyes. "He was hurt Kanaya, he was really hurt." I can feel tears in my own eyes begin to form just thinking of how hurt he looked the other night. "He needs you Kanaya. More than anyone." She nods slowly and looks away again. "Now, i think you owe that boy a feelings jam, don't you?" She smiles the least bit and nods, standing back up. We both walk out the door and was about to head opposite directions when i pause for a second. "And Kanaya?" I can feel her looks at me. "This little talk doesn't change anything. I still hate you." I hear a slight chuckle coming from her and i know she smirked.  
"Yes, i indeed still hate you too."

 The (what feel like) days fly by, Kanaya has taken my advice and talked to Karkat more often. The day after Kanaya came after me and smirked. I gave her a confusing look, and then she said,  
"You know, i still have not gotten revenge from you punching me the other day."  
"Wha..." i start but her glowing fist whips out and strikes me in the face.  
"Son of a bitch!" I shout and leap on her unintentionally, tiger instincts kicking in. I throw her against the wall and sink my claws into her cheeks. She throws me back and bites me, i hiss and spit and use my legs to kick her off me and shove her against the wall, sinking my own extremely sharp fangs into her neck and she yelps out in pain, pushing me off her but dragging my claws through her shoulder.  
She shoves me to the ground and grips my neck, holding me in place.

And then she kisses me.

Again

I can feel her fangs sink into my bottom lip and my eyes widen in shock. I try to shove her back but instead i ~~purposefully~~ accidently push myself closer and bite back, hard. She seems a bit shocked at that, and i shocked myself too, but don't let up. By the time i shove her off me, both our mouths are bleeding like mad, and my lips are smeared in a cross between red, jade green and black lipstick. I blink twice and realise...

That that wasn't actually as bad as it seems. 

I raise an eyebrow as i process that thought and blink, she stares at me, a smirk spread across her face, and she leaps at me again. This time, i was prepared. She rakes her claws down my cheeks and i hiss into her mouth. We manage to roll across the floor and bump into numerous tables and chairs, and she even throws me across the room into the TV. I wipe my lips of the blood and let a deep hiss rumble in my throat, she replies with one of her own. And then we're in each others faces again (quite literally,) i tear at her hair and she gnashes at my throat. I can feel blood begin to fall down the back of my throat and i begin to gag, falling back away from her, there is just way too much, and i think i can taste hers too. I cough and spit, but soon i'm back on my feet with the help of by breath powers, thank god for that. 

Somehow we manage to come to a truce and go to the bathroom to wash up, my wounds healing rather quickly and i sigh as i scrub at my mouth, the taste of blood still lingering. I return to my room and throw my clothes i was wearing through the encounter out, they're torn to shreads, quite literally. It's a goof thing i'd alchemised a hell of a lot of clothes beforehand, and i switch into a dressing gown like outfit with the breath symbol emblazoned on it as always, and with the usual sylph hood with the two pieces of fabric trailing down the front, and the hood falling down my back. 

Karkat notices my numerous scratches and bruises when i find the main hall and looks at me with worry.  
"Shit, are you alright." He takes my chin in his hand and slightly turns my face left to right, inspecting the almost healed wounds.   
"Karkat i'm fine, trust me." I throw a glance over at Kanaya who has also found her way here. He catches my glance and looks over to Kanaya, she raises an eyebrow and Karkat's eyes flick from her to me and back to her again. "Are you two..." he starts but trails off. Kanaya looks at me and raises her now lowered eyebrow again, i look from her to Karkat and slowly smile. And i nod once.   
"A _thing_?" alec finishes and i nod at him and smirk. "But... _how_?"   
"It is perfectly capable for humans to feel emotions that we trolls have, you just have not uncovered such feelings." Kanaya states and Alec's jaw drops.   
"But, that's just... _eck_. I mean, why would you wanna kiss the person you hate most..." He trails off and shudders, i laugh.  
"Don't dis it til you try it." He just shudders again. 

Days continue to pass, and soon they turn into what feels like weeks, and then months. Equius and Raine had surprisingly hooked up, i really couldn't see them as a couple but now it's just really cute. I had wondered where they had gotten off to, now it was just plain obvious. Equius still hadn't gotten over Nepeta exploding, but whenever he was feeling down, Raine would comfort him and apparantly that made everything better. Equius had nearly completely gotten over the hemospectrum though, and over the months that allowed Equius and Gamzee to become Kismesises. Raine had caught them, so Karkat and i had to explain Kismesitude to her so she wouldn't get mad and hurt at him, she looked at us in shock and especially me when i told her that i was in a Kismesitude with Kanaya. But in the end (after hours of explaining) she understood and acceppted it, although she still shuddered when she caught Equius and Gamzee black kissing. 

It's been almost five months since we took off, it's November now and i sigh when i remember it's my mum's birthday in a few days. I'm going to make sure i do a bunch of work on that day, she never wants a birthday present, just for her kids to work hard and help around the farm, or for me the house (I never much went out on the farm, not my thing.) According to Kanaya, the mother grub had hatched a month ago, and was good and healthy. The further Kanaya and i got into our Kismesitude, the easier it became, bot to mention how _fun_ it became, which is a weird thought in itself, but whenever it pops up in my mind i just brush it aside. Karkat became happier that Kanaya would spend more time with him, he became less stressed too. Every time i slept i would meet some new trolls or other people who died whilst playing the game, and i became good friends with Aranea and Meulin and, believe it or not, Kankri. I met with Alpha Karkat a few more times too, but i'd definitely prefer my Karkat better, but that was an obvious statement in itself really.

One night while walking the halls i heard a voice whicpering inside a room, i peeped through the crack and saw ben who was sitting there with a fuchsia glow in his eyes, smiling insanely. His whole body was glowing fuchsia, and it was more than a little creepy. But the strange thing was that he looked as if he was listening. Then i noticed the band around his wrist, it had two small speakers which were crackling out a voice, i couldn't hear what it was saying though. But the most vivid thing about it was that it had a Piesces sign on top which held the speakers. I couldn't hear what it was saying, but the voice was most definitly female, her voice sent shivers down my spine without even klnowing what she was saying. Her voice was crackly and had almost a sweet feel to it. But most importantly, she sounded _condescending_. And that's when i realized who Ben was listening to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man that was really weird to write.
> 
> And Ben you traitorous bastard
> 
> I believe that humans are actually capable of kismesitude we just never try. and also, it kinda helps that Riana is part animal.   
> >:)  
> > :)  
> >:)  
> > :)


	33. 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really don't know what the second part of this chapter is this, i just got creative i guess.

Gamzee slides out of the vents and into his respite block, he still has another mother fucker that he has to get his apologising around. Although he's not looking forwards to it, he knows it has to be done. He slinks down the hallway and searching for eery teal snake-troll. It takes a few hours of wandering around before he finds her curled up in a corner and... and is that _sobbing_ he hears? He slowly walks up to her; her hands cover her face and her ghostly sprite tail whips around everywhere.  
"The mother fuck is wrong with you?" Gamzee says and Terezi's head whips up towards him. Glowing teal tears slither down her cheeks and she blinks, and then her face turns up into a snarl.  
" You." she hisses.  
"The fuck did i do?"  
" _You_. You disssspicable fucking clown. Thissss issss all your fault. "  
"what's my fault, snake sis?"  
"Don't call me that!"  
"Okay, just calm the mother fuck down alright?"  
"No! I will not calm down!"  
"Just tell me your problem."  
" _You're_ my problem! "  
"What the fuck did i do?"  
"You did thissss. You killed one of my besssst friendssss _twicccce_. And you made me into thissss, thissss _thing_! I don't even know what the fuck i am anymore! I'm not a fucking slitherbeasssst, or a troll, i don't even resemble anything anymore! Jusssst a long, floating thing with a head and demented armssss. How the fuck am i ssssuppossssed to feel about that? I hate it. I jusssst fucking hate it. Not to mention thissss sssstupid hissss in my sssstupid fucking voiccce that i can't fucking control! It'ssss pissssing me off! And it'ssss all your fault! You threw me into that damned ssssprite! Why the fuck did you do that?! " Gamzee looks at her, mortified, she had gotten up and looked him dead in the eyes by now, all he does is blink bafore answering.  
"I just wanted to all up and make shit right again. You can't blame a mother fucker for wanting to do that, can you?"  
"Yesssss i can! Now leave before i do ssssomething i might regret!"  
"I can't do that, not until i've got my apologisssssing on for all up and culling you..."  
"Ha! Don't you think it'ssss a little too late to apologisssse? Too late to try and make thingssss right?!"  
"It's never too late."  
" _It issss too fucking late you sssstupid fucking clown!_ " 

"Hey, what the hell is going on here?" Comes a new voice. They both turn to see Alec walking down the hall. By now Terezi is literally smoking, and she begins to crackle with what looks like lightning. Alec is only a few feet away from her when she lets a roar rip from her lips and she erupts in an almighty explosion. Gamzee was able to get away in time, but Alec not so much. He hits the ground hard and tumbles backwards across the floor. His breathing increases and he finds an incredibly loud screeching noise in his ears. He attempts to stand back up and uses the wall for support, his red sunglasses lie on the floor, one of the lenses popped out and he touches the side of his head. 

It's wet a thick to the touch, and he can feel something sting his eyes as it rolls down into them. He touches the other side of his head and notices that it's also bleeding, his vision becomes blurry and he falls to the floor again, but not before Gamzee catches him and lowers him to the ground, then taking off into the vents again. He still breathes heavily, and the screeching doesn't cease. He pulls himself up using the wall and makes his way to the foyer where he knows someone would be. 

The door slides open in front of him, he's left a trail of red in his wake as he keeps gasping. He notices a figure inside, and he can only barely make out Vriska standing at a fridge. Vriska lifts the left side of her slightly at the door sliding open and she turns around, eyes widening in shock. Vriska's lips move but he doesn't catch what she says from the unbearable screeching in his head. Her lips move again but he doesn't understand but instead falls to the ground. She looks like she shouts out something, and the next thing he knows Kanaya is rounding the corner.

**Prince**

Kanaya takes a medical kit from one of the cupboards and begins to patch up the wound on his head before moving onto his arm, by now his blonde hair has been clotted and matted with blood to stain it red. Next he sees Eva run up to him, her lips move too, probably asking Kanaya what she could do. After Kanaya speaks Eva nods and presses down firmly on Alec's arm making him gasp out loud, and he could nearly make out the word 'sorry' on her lips. 

**Prince. Come about.**

The ringing keeps echoing in his ears and a splintering headache suddenly engulfs his head and he hasps again. Vriska hold a wet cloth on his forehead, wiping away the blood from his eyes and face. He pants hard and he moans loudly when another blast stabs through his skull and stays there for a few seconds before it dissipates, but not completely. He can feel involuntary tears fall down his face from the immense pain in both sides of his head and his arm.

**Can you hear me, Prince.**

The screeching had only eased enough for him to barely comprehend the strange, loomy fuzz that buzzed in the back of his mind, but he took no notice of it as it was the last thing on his mind. 

**Prince. Stand.**

And there it was again, this time they almost sounded like words. Unrecognisable though it may be. 

**Prince. Listen. Get up. There is a task to be completed. And you are the only acceptable candidate. Get up.**

It was definitely a voice, still not entirely clear over the ear-piercing scream. 

**Prince. Stand. You have a mission in only which you can fulfill. You must stand. Get up.**

But only after he falls unconscious from loss of blood. 

//

My hands ball into fists, and i shove the door open and walk up to the traitorous bastard. I grab that stupid Bard hood and pull him up in the air with little effort so i'm staring him straight in the face.  
"The _hell_ is this?!" I shout. His eyes are wide and the two shades of fuchsia, and that dispicable insane grin on his face. A string of words exit his mouth but he speaks too fast to be able to understand. and then just like before, something small flashes on top of his head, but this time i catch a glance. two small symbols, one after the other, first the Pisces sign and secondly the Scorpio. And before i knew it, he's torn from my grip and thrown a fist into my gut. I'm sent back into the wall, head slamming against it and a snarl rip from my lips and i lap at him. His whole body begins to glow the red-pink colour, and the symbols flash furiously on his forehead. His fist flies out again, this time i step to the side, grabbing his flailing fist and pulling it back hard, pinning it behind his back. I push him to the ground and step on his hand to keep it from moving. 

But his legs fling out and trip me, allowing him to escape my grip. He takes something from his sylladex, it takes me barely a moment to recognise the object and oh my god what even... fck the guys even got a fucking _Pokeball_ and no doubt a _Pokemon_ as a weapon. He tosses it and before i can move it's hit my head and opened, releasing a small burst of red and it transforms into... what is that? is that... _he invented a new fucking pokemon what the fuck_. It's a different version of, i think it's Alakazam? i don't know, but it's wearing the same outfit as Ben minus the hood and the cod piece. 

Bens shoulders move with an inward laugh, and the things arms move out with two spoons in hand, i never really nderstood that, but waves of green begin reflecting off the spoon. My head all of a sudden becomes furry and a headache strings every inch of my brain. 

"The hell? Oh god, Riana!" I hear a voice but my head is too fuzzed o be able to tell who it is. But all i see is a blinding flash, well it would have been blinding if my eyes weren't sealed shut. Whatever it was, it cleared my head, i sit up to find Ben escaping up through a vent and Raine running over to me. "Are you alright?" She asks.  
"I... I should be fine."  
"What happened?"  
"Ben's in contact with the Condesce."  
"Who?"  
"I..." but i'm too tied all of a sudden and i pass out right there on the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now, you have to remember that Terezi is exremely angry because she is also part serpent/snake, and that affects her attitudes


	34. 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really don't know where this chapter went, i couldn't find a way to end it and that's why it's longer than usual at 4067 words. longest chapter so far.

I wake up on my bed, my head pounding with a splitting headache. I attempt to sit up, but fail miserably. The world spins around me and I moan out loud, rubbing my head with my palm, I even find that difficult. I turn my head slightly to the left and realise that I am not actually in my room at all, I’m in the emergency room… wait we actually have one of those? Huh, whatever. Anyway, I find another figure lying on the bed next to me, and soon he comes into focus, and I realise it’s Alec. He has stitches running up the side of his head and on his arm, who on this meteor even knows this stuff? It soon comes into my conscience that I realise that _he has stitches running up his head and arm_ , and I kind of have a miniature panic attack.  
“Shit, Alec are you okay?” Well duh, of course he’s not, what kind of question was that?  
“Riana! You’re finally awake!” I hear Raine call and run up to me.  
“Yeah, what happened?”  
“I don’t know, I was hoping that you’d know.” My eyebrows furrow, I can’t remember anything.  
“Alright then, tell me this. What happened to him?” I nod at Alec and her face contorts into a frown.  
“Terezi exploded.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah.”  
“That doesn’t really explain my question.”  
“He was basically right next to her and got caught in the blast.”  
“Oh.” And then what she said before clicks and I lift an eyebrow. “Wait, you said I’m finally awake, how long was I out for?” She sighs and bites her lip.  
“You were in a coma, for about three weeks.”  
“What?!”  
“Yeah, you were pretty out of it. We were all worried, and Karkat wouldn’t stop freaking out and saying he’ll kill whoever did this to you.” I smile a bit at Karkat’s overprotectiveness. “Even Kanaya was worried about you.” Really, it’s no surprise. 

“So, how long has Alec been dead?” She pulls a face at me but rolls her eyes,  
“He’s not dead, and that isn’t even remotely funny. He’s been gone for as long as you have, he still hasn’t woken up. But, he does keep muttering things in his sleep, something about a mission?” She shrugs, I look over at Alec again and notice he’s as still as a statue, if it weren’t for the steady rise and fall of his chest he really would look dead, and his pale skin really doesn’t help that. I attempt to sit up once more, pushing up on my hands and a pain shoots through my skull and I gasp, falling back down again. “Riana, are you okay?” Raine starts to panic; I nod slightly and take a deep breath. And then it dawns on me.  
“I missed my mum’s birthday.” I bite my lip, no; those are definitely not tears welling in my eyes, nononononono.  
“I’m sorry Riana.” I quickly scrub at my eyes, wiping the non-existent tears from my eyes.  
“Thank gog, Riana, you’re awake.” I hear Karkat’s voice call from the door and he rushes up to me and pulls me in a tight hug. Wrapping my arms around his neck I pull myself up in an attempt to hug him better. He pulls back after a few moments and stares at me. “What the fuck actually happened?”  
“I… I really don’t know.” But then there’s a stirring next to us and suddenly Alec sits up straight, his eyes wide and he shouts,  
“Ben Tucker has to die!” Then he blinks twice and rubs his head. All three of us stare at him.  
“What, the fuck.” Karkat says, but Alec doesn’t answer him. Then it’s like we all just realise that he’s woken up, because we all smile at him, including Karkat, even though he doesn’t exactly like him that much.  
“Alec, are you alright?” I ask but I don’t get an answer.  
“Alec, hello?” He just blinks at us and cocks his head.  
“Uh, Alec?” Raine asks and waves a hand in front of him; he slaps it away and covers his ears and curses loudly.  
“FUCK! I can’t hear. I can’t hear anything! Fuck, fuck, FUCK! I can’t fucking hear! Now what the fuck am I supposed to do?! FUCK!”  
“Alec, calm down it’ll be alright…” I start but then stop because it’s pointless if he can’t hear. He begins rambling on in a rage which none of us can stop. That is until Raine grabs him by the wrists, by the looks of it hard, and glares at him.  
“I know you can’t hear but you need to stop, it’s not going to make it any better by screaming about it…” but before she could finish her sentence he begins breathing rapidly starts to cough slightly. And then he breaks down into a coughing fit and starts to choke. Raine grips him on the shoulders and shakes him slightly. “Hey, hey Alec come on. Oh god, it’s happening again isn’t it?” She looks at us both, Karkat’s staring at Alec, his eyes wide with concern, do trolls not get asthma?  
“Karkat, help me up.” I say and he turns to me. I push the covers off and try swinging around but I still feel really dizzy. He grips my wrists and pulls me up, steadying me. I hold my hands out and they begin to glow a lightly a pale blue, wisps of it flicking off the end of my fingertips. The air around us begins to grow cold as a breeze picks up, I bite my lip and try not to pass out, this takes a hella lot of energy when I’m so freaking weak. Alec’s entire convulsing body begins to glow the pale blue, he manages to look at me, his glasses nowhere to be found so I can plainly see his hazel eyes. 

His breathing begins to ease and he stops coughing so much and soon he’s back to his normal self, still freaked out though. I lower my hands and collapse, Karkat catching me with ease and hoisting me back on the bed.  
“What did you just do?” he asks kind of astonished.  
“I… I’m the Sylph of Breath, that’s what I do. I… I stop people from suffocating. It’s my job.” He nods slightly and sits at the end of my bed. Alec takes a deep breath and sits back up.  
“Okay, uh, thanks. Um. Yeah.” I nod at him and smile, too tired to do anything much else.

As the weeks pass it soon reaches December, and with that my birthday which I don’t really acknowledge. That is until everybody starts wishing me happy birthday, I’m gonna get Raine for telling later, she’s the only one that knows it’s my birthday. William and Eva bake me a cake, and I glare at them all when they go to sing me happy birthday, thumping my tail repeatedly on the ground, irritated. When the cake does come out, it only takes a wave of my hand to blow the candles out, but Raine shakes her head.  
“Riana, come on, do it traditionally.” She snaps her fingers and the candles light up with a ball of light on each. I glare at her and sigh, making a note to doubly get her for this. I’m too freaking old for this. I roll my eyes and blow out the damned candles and cut the flipping cake. Everybody has a slice, including Equius, but that was funny to watch because Raine had to feed it to him so it wouldn’t smoosh in his hands or break the plate. He went bright blue but eventually laughed it off. God damn how long has it been since he last laughed? It’s like he’s never laughed before… which is actually really sad to think about. I know he still hasn’t gotten over Nepeta, but Raine seems to be piecing his heart back together bit by bit, which makes me smile. 

“I hope you’ve had a terrible wriggling day so far.” Kanaya says as I pass her in the hall, making me smirk.  
“Hardly.”  
“Well, I’ll just see how horrible I can fashion it, shall I?”  
“Take your best shot.” 

We then proceed to have quite a few black moments before tearing (literally) ourselves off each other and going to fix ourselves up.

It was only a few days after that when my memory finally clicked. It when I saw those traitorous fuchsia eyes glowing in the vent, watching me, and then quickly scuttling away deep into the vents. I snarl and part of me wanted to go after him and tear him to shreds, but my more sensible part told me to go tell the others what happened.  
“And that’s when Raine found me.” I finish after meeting the others in the hall.  
“I knew that bastard was up to something.” Nic says, slamming his hand onto the table next to him.  
“But, Ben. He was such a sweet guy who wouldn’t harm a fly… why would he seek out the Condesce? It doesn’t make sense.” Eva says, resting her chin on her knees.  
“Maybe he didn’t seek him out, maybe the Condesce found him?” Jamie offers and I shake my head.  
“No, maybe in another year that suggestion could have been more likely, but we’re still on our first year.”  
“Still, nobody explains to me who this ‘Condesce’ is.” Raine sighs.  
“Her Imperious Condescension is an ancestral troll, Feferi’s to be precise. She owns the Betty Crocker company, and that is where she scored her nickname ‘the Batterwitch…’”  
“More like Batterbitch.” I snicker and Eva just ignores me.  
“She was the one who banished adult trolls from Alternia after the uprising of the Summoner, apparently to reduce the risk of rebellions. She has quite a large lifespan, and is in contact with a deep surging monstrosity, her and Feferi's Lusus, Gl’bgolyb, for whom she competed over with other potential heiresses that shared her blood colour…”  
“How did you even pronounce that?” I cut in and she looks at me.  
“Pronounce what?”  
“Gil… Gilbglo… Gilbgolby… Feferi’s Lusus.”  
“Gl’bgolyb.” Feferi corrects, crossing her arms and sighing.  
“Yeah.”  
“Anyway…”  
“Actually, never mind, this isn’t making any sense to me, if it’s so complicated I don’t want to know.” Raine says and Eva nods.  
“Okay.”  
“Basically she’s the badass ancestor of Feferi’s who we all hate because she’s a huge bitch who likes to cull everyone. And not to mention what she will do to poor Jane and Jade once we reach the Alpha universe.” I mutter the last bit.  
“Way to simplify.” Jamie says.  
“Hey, do you think we could try and get there before that happens? Is there any way we can make this meteor go faster?” I ask, but William shakes his head.  
“I would try but I’ve already got a lot on my plate, I am transporting all these planets with us, it takes some effort.”  
“But you said that they already awaited our arrival?”  
“Yeah, I lied about that. I didn’t want you guys to worry about it.”  
“So… where exactly _are_ they?” Eva asks suspiciously. William sighs and says,   
“Follow me.”

He leads us to the highest point of the meteor and clicks his fingers. Eight planets all circle the meteor, spinning around and around in orbit.  
“Damn, wouldn’t the consorts get dizzy?” Jamie asks, William shakes his head.  
“Did you get dizzy when you were on Earth?”  
“No.”  
“Well there you go…” There’s a clattering next to us and we all swing around to the air vent that’s sticking out of the ground, the grate pointing towards us. But behind the grate are two glowing eyes and I snarl and jump towards it, tearing it off the vent. I grab his shirt and throw him out, taking the gloves from my sylladex and putting them, preparing for a fight. Ben rolls and stands back up, his smile turned up into an insane one, and his eyes wide and pinky-red, with a lighter shade where his pupils should be. He holds his pokeball in hand and Eva steps in front of him. 

“Why?” Is all she asks. 

He doesn’t answer her but instead tosses the ball, underarm, and it opens up to reveal yet another modified Pokémon. This one is unrecognisable, I’ve got no idea which one modified if any. William takes his axe and Raine grabs the… what did she call it? Fishy Excalilight? Whatever. Jamie has knuckle dusters with blades on the end of each around her fingers, while Nic’s hands begin to light up with Purple. And finally, Feferi grabs her trident and Tavros just floats there nervously. 

And then there’s a dark green glowing behind Ben as a figure begins to rise up, a nasty smirk on his face. I see William’s hands tighten around his axe and he leaps without giving it a second thought. And then he disappears into thin air… or should I say thin space. No, that sounds dumb. Anyway he appears behind his sprite and swings the axe, but his ‘father’ catches it and flips him over, easily overpowering him and taking the axe. I go to leap but Ben grasps my throat, choking me and doesn’t let go. He lifts me off the ground, even though he’s only thirteen, _fuck_ the kids got some strength, although this might be from being under the influence of the Batterbitch. Hehehe, Batterbitch. I try kicking him in the gut but fail miserably. 

And soon he’s engulfed in a ball of light and drops me to the ground. I scramble back up and look at Raine who’s standing there with her hand held out towards him. I take the chance to leap over the top of him and slam William’s fathersprite to the ground, knocking the axe from his hand and tossing it back to William. An incredibly horrifying snarl curls on his face and he leaps at the two of us. But a black circle engulfs him making him stop and soon it dissipates, a beam retreating to its caster. We all look towards the wielder, it’s Alec.  
“I was wondering where everyone went.” Is all he says.  
“So what was the point of that beam thing?” William asks and Alec stares at him, and it’s as if he only just remembers Alec’s deaf. He furrows his eyebrows, trying to discern what he said.  
“I… I discovered that I can doom people like this?” He says it as a question, probably wondering if that’s the answer he was looking for.  
“How did you understand him?” I ask, and this time he gets me clearly.  
“We’ll talk about it later. Let’s focus on this right now.” He takes a gun from his sylladex and points it at the sprite. Before he could fire though, and before fathersprite could actually recover, William has slammed the back of the axe into his head, sending him flying off the edge and he holds his hand out, and makes him disappear into thin… space (lame.)  
“Good fucking riddance.” He finishes and we all turn to Ben who’s only just escaped from Raine’s burning ball of light, hair singed and smoking. Alec throws his dooming beam towards him but the modified Pokémon jumps in the way, taking the beam and exploding. Ben spins around and simply tosses another ball, releasing yet another indistinguishable Pokémon. 

And then a purple fist is in his face and he’s flying back and rolls across the ground, Nic lands just in front of him.  
“I swear Ben, I shall take you out whether it’s the last thing I do. You are a traitor, you do not deserve to live. You should leave this meteor immediately; we do not need people like you dooming us.” He says, and then Alec steps forwards.  
“And that’s exactly why I’m gonna take him out, not you. It’s my job as a Prince of Doom to destroy the doom that threatens us. Why don’t you leave this to me?” I still have no idea how he knows what he said.  
“I have known Ben for longer than you, I believe I should commit the deed.”  
“No.” He says it so plainly.  
“Excuse me…?”  
“I said I will do it. And I will do it.”  
“This is unacceptable. What gives you the right?”  
“I have orders!” He shouts and I swear it echoes all throughout the meteor. We all stare at him.  
“From who?” He doesn’t answer. “From, who?” He still doesn’t answer, just gives him a quizzical look. “ _From who?!_ ” He shouts, this time he understands. He looks at him, Nic is a few inches taller than Alec, Alec is rather short for his age. 

“The voices.”  
“What voices?”  
“The voices of the doomed prophets.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He blinks twice, trying to comprehend what he said.  
“The doomed prophets?”  
“And I asked what that is supposed to mean!”  
“It’s simple, if you could wrap your tiny brain around it. I hear voices of deceased prophets. They speak to me. Ever since I went deaf they’ve been speaking to me. They’ve been telling me I have a mission, a mission to kill the one who dooms this meteor. And that is him.” He points to Ben… well where Ben once laid.  
“Dammit!” both Alec and Nic shout. “You’re insufferable ramblings allowed Ben to escape, so much for destroying the doom!”  
“Shut your face, if you had just let me…!” But Nic’s fist is in Alec’s face, and he’s sent stumbling back and falling. My eyes widen and I snarl, and then I’ve got him pinned against the wall with my arm pushed against his neck, a growl tearing from my lips.  
“What the _fuck_ did you do that for? You do not _touch_ him again or I will tear you to shreds. Don’t ever even _think_ about hitting him. If you talk to him badly I will hurt you bad. If you even _look_ at him wrong I will fucking kill you, understand?!” I shout in his face, baring my fangs with my claws at his face ready to attack if he tries anything.  
“Riana! Stop!” Eva shouts and tugs at my shoulder, but I don’t budge. William stares at me intently and I feel his fists curl at his sides, glowing purple slightly. “Riana, he’s a Mage of Rage for God’s sake! You know what that means! He gets manipulated by his aspect! _Rage_ , Riana. _Rage_ manipulates him. He’s _going_ to strike out a lot of the time. It’s not his fault!” Eva continues to tug at my arm, but I still don’t retreat, and I won’t until he gets my speech through his thick skull. 

But the funny thing is is that he doesn’t.

“You see what I mean? Ben is going to tear us apart, disabling us to work together as a team, and therefore dooming us. I have to stop him.” Alec says, getting back up. “And Riana, just lay off him, it’s not like it hurt me.” I glare at Nic again and push on his neck a little and then take a few steps back.

But as soon as I do Alec’s whopping him in the face.  
“Fucking rage me you stupid piece of shit!” He shouts, slamming him in the jaw. A smirk pulls on Nic’s lips, as if he accomplished something and oh I just got it. As soon as Nic hit Alec, he filled him with rage towards him, why would he do that?  
“Cut it out guys.” Jamie says impatiently. But they don’t, making Jamie incredibly angry. “I said _cut it out_!” She shouts and holds a hand in the air, palm up and fingers curled. And then both Alec and Nic faint. The rest of us turn to Jamie and she sighs. “Drained some of the blood from their heads, they won’t be out for long, just enough for them to calm down.”  
“Good work.” William says and raises his hand. And just like that they disappear.  
“What did you…” I begin but he interrupts before I get to finish.  
“Transported them back to their rooms.”  
“Oh.”  
“Now what do we, uh, do?” Tavros says and startles me, I forgot he was there. William sighs and shrugs.  
“I guess we wait.”  
“Wait for what?” I ask.  
“Either wait for them to come to their senses or wait for Ben to exit the vents again.” Now Eva sighs and crosses her arms.  
“He used to be sweet and carefree. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt anyone. He used to cry when he found dead and injured animals, and when he could he would nurse them back to health. He used to have a passion for graffiti art, but ever since we entered the medium I haven’t seen him graffiti something once. What happened to him?”  
“I’m sorry.” I say and wrap an arm around her shoulder.  
“And even Nic, he becomes angrier and angrier each passing day. We used to be good friends, but he’s just drifting further and further away from me and i… I just don’t know what to do anymore. It gets harder and harder… and… and…” That’s when she breaks down into tears. Jamie takes her from my arm and hugs her. I look down at my feet and sit, William and Raine joining me. 

After a while Tavros slowly slips back inside, but we don’t really pay attention. We all just sit there, until the door slides open and Karkat and Equius Join us.  
“What the hell went on out here?” Karkat asks.  
“Funny thing,” I say, “It’s about Ben.”  
“What about him?”  
“I remembered what happened.”  
“Do tell.” Equius says and the two of them sit down on the ground as I begin to tell my story again. 

“I knew he couldn’t be trusted. You know, he and Gamzee are probably in cahoots. Gamzee’s been acting all weird lately.” Karkat says.  
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they were. They’re both Bard’s, and they both have similar personalities.” I say and Karkat nods, Eva sighs again. She must have been really good friends with him at one point.  
“Do you know what this means? It means we have to eradicate him before he can cause any further damage.” Equius says, and Eva squeaks.  
“Yeah. We know.” William affirms.  
“Yeah, but how about we spend the rest of the year just enjoying ourselves, and deal with Ben when he shows himself next?” Raine says. That’s right, I nearly forgot, it’s only a couple of weeks before the end of the year.  
“I guess that sounds reasonable enough.” Equius agrees, and so do the rest of us.  
“Sounds like a plan.” Karkat says. 

So we spend the next couple of weeks doing just that, enjoying ourselves. We watch movies, throw a party or two, and Alec being Alec found a way to alchemise alcohol. And then, you guessed it, he got drunk. I should have seen that coming. New Year’s Eve comes around eventually, everybody danced with their Matesprits, well those who had Matesprits. William supplied the music, it seems he has a whole stash hidden away somewhere. He and Jamie danced together too, over the year they had become quite fond of each other, but in a best-friend way. They made that quite clear. And then Alec had to ruin the whole thing by being clumsy and drunk and setting the curtains on fire. I don’t know how, but he managed. It was easy for me to put it out though. I gave him a good smack around the head for it later. 

So the year ended on a reasonable note, if Alec hadn’t screwed it up, it would have been a lot better. But it’s not like I could complain, I had fun, and I was with the people I love and couldn’t live without.


	35. 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YEAR 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops haha sorry for not updating in about nine days, i was doing something else that involves fantrolls.

“Yo. Happy birthday.” I say to Raine about a week into January, time for payback.  
“Thanks.” I had already told everyone that her birthday was today. Ben hasn’t revealed himself yet, and it’s kind of worrying to know that someone dangerous is roaming around the vents and could attempt to take us out at any given moment. All of us are always on high alert, and it’s a good thing Alec hadn’t touched the alcohol since New Year’s Eve. Apparently he’s been talking to Meulin when he visits the dream bubbles, and she’s been teaching him to read lips, and also sign language. So that was how he was able to understand us. 

The first major event of the year happened later that day. Karkat and I were casually walking down one of the many halls when we both noticed a trail of darkish pinky-red. The substance became thicker and thicker and in larger pools the further we followed the trail, and eventually it led to one of the bathrooms. I slid the door open and both of us gasp at what we see. Feferi lies there in the corner, unconscious and with the light pink-red flowing from her stomach.  
“Shit! Karkat, grab a towel.” I shout and he obliges, grabbing the closest one and tossing it to me. I quickly wrap it around Feferi’s thin middle, manoeuvring around her long wings. I tuck one of my arms under her arms, the other where her knees would normally be and pick her up, she’s a lot lighter than she looks, but that may be because she’s a sprite. We both run towards the med-hall and lay her down on one of the beds, we both work together to wrap up her wound properly. I quickly flip my glasses on and open pesterchum. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering thunderingHeavens  [TH] \--

WD: Raine I need your help.   
WD: something’s happened to Feferi.   
WD: she’s been wounded pretty badly and   
WD: goddammit Raine pick up.   
WD: fuck.

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering friendlySubjuggator  [FS] \--

WD: William, please you have to help me.   
WD: Feferi’s in trouble and   
WD: oh for fucks sake.   
WD: don’t you people know you’re supposed to keep at least five means of communications on you at all times like a sensible person?   
WD: fuck.

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering redeyedHellmaker  [RH] \--

WD: Alec…   
WD: wait never mind.   
RH: if you want to talk to me talk to me then.   
WD: never mind

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] ceased pestering redeyedHellmaker  [RH] \--

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering hiddenUtopia  [HU] \--

WD: Eva, are you there?  
WD: oh for god’s sake. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering restlessSouls  [RS] \--

WD: Jamie?   
WD: uuuughh! 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering arachnidsGrip  [AG] \--

WD: I’m almost afraid to ask.   
WD: fuck my LIFE where the hell IS everyone!!! 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering centaursTesticle  [CT] \--

WD: Equius please tell me you’re there.   
WD: come one Equius pleeeaase.   
WD: noooo fuck.   
WD: don’t do this to me Equius.   
WD: fuuuuck. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering darkMage  [DM] \--  
WD: …   
WD: actually, no, fuck you I’m not asking you.   
DM: good, I would not oblige anyway.   
WD: why are the only people I DON’T want talking back uuugggghhh. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] ceased pestering darkMage  [DM] \--

Ugh, that only leaves one person. I literally smack my head

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] began pestering grimAuxiliatrix  [GA] \--

WD: Kanaya.   
GA: Yes   
WD: fuck. Kanaya, don’t fucking mock me for this but I seriously need your help, and nobody else is picking up.   
GA: You Asking For My Help? I Should Hope This Isn’t A Trick. If It Is Well I Think We Both Know What I’m Capable Of.   
WD: yes Kanaya, shut the fuck up. Nobody gives a shit. But it’s not actually me that needs your help.   
GA: But You Clearly Just Stated You Needed My Assistance. Make Up Your Mind. Now.   
WD: I only need your help to help me get Feferi help.   
GA: That Made Absolutely No Sense Whatsoever.   
WD: /sigh.   
WD: I need you to help me to help Feferi.   
GA: Why, What’s Feferi’s State Of Wellbeing? Is There Something I Should Know?   
WD: Feferi’s been hurt you stupid piece of shit, if you couldn’t figure that out yourself.   
WD: If she were in any other condition would I be asking your lame ass for help?   
WD: no I wouldn’t because that’s just a stupid thing for a Kismesis to do.   
WD: now get your fucking ass down to the medical lab now before I force it there.   
GA: I Am Only Obliging Because Of Feferi. Nothing Else. Understand?   
WD: wouldn’t have it any other way. 

\-- wakingDragons  [WD] ceased pestering grimAuxiliatrix  [GA] \--

Oh god, this is going to be horrible. I look to Karkat who’s staring at Feferi in shock.  
“Kanaya’s coming.” I say and he nods. If I knew the first thing about medical treatment I wouldn’t need her help. That’s the sad thing, really, my mum was a nurse, and I didn’t pay her the least bit of attention when she was lecturing us all about health care. I’m kinda regretting it now. Kanaya arrives a few minutes later and shoves me out of the way, a growl rumbles in my throat, oh how i wish I could retaliate, but I know that would get us nowhere. She begins patching up Feferi’s wound, retwining the bandages around her middle and then looking at the multiple bruises covering her glowing skin. One of her wings had been torn pretty badly, Kanaya managed to wrap that up too, Karkat and I were both watching her work like mad. 

Eventually she was covered in enough bandages to make her look like a mummy. I clench my fists, whoever did this to her is going to pay. And I have a fair idea who it is. I begin to walk out the door, but not before Karkat asks,  
“Hey, Riana, where are you going?”  
I look at him and say one word, well, more like a name.  
“Ben.” And then I stride out the door.

But little did I know that this was just the start of something huge. 

//

As Riana walks out the door, Karkat was about to follow her out, but Kanaya stops him with a hand on his shoulder.  
“Please remain here so you can assist me with Miss Peixes when she awakens.” He looks up at her and nods.  
“Okay.” They both grab a chair and sit down by her bed, her wispy tail flicking around like a fuchsia flame, and her damaged wings opened up under her so they hang off the bed at an awkward angle. With his arms crossed, Karkat lets out a heavy sigh, it probably was Ben who did this to her, but he couldn’t be quite sure. As far as he knew, Ben didn’t have any human Fiduspawn weapons that could do that kind of damage, but he didn’t know the fuckass all that well. He probably had a stash of modified ‘Pokémon’ as he likes to call them hidden away. But there was something about the bruises that cover Feferi’s body, something almost familiar about the way they were set out. He just can’t put his finger on it. 

An hour ticks by, and only now does Feferi begin to wake. Kanaya takes her hand to assure her that she’s safe here, that she’ll be alright. But Karkat can’t help remembering her confession before the meteor had left.  
“Feferi, are you alright?” She asks, but she only gets a moan in return. “Feferi, please. We need to know if you are well enough to explain to us what took place to fashion you to such a horrible state.”  
“Ugh.” Feferi winces as her eyes slowly open. “Where… where am I?” She asks.  
“You are in the medical bay, Feferi. Can you remember what happened?” Kanaya helps her sit up slowly and Feferi closes her eyes.  
“I don’t know. I-It was just a blur. A blur of movements, my eyes… I couldn’t follow their moves.”  
“Whose?”  
“I don’t know. All I saw was a flash of purple and green. And then there was pink. Pink everywhere. I… I knew I had been hit as soon as I saw it. And… and immense pain. They left me there in the hall to… I had to drag myself to the lavatory to try and fix myself up. But… but I passed out and the next thing I knew… I’d woken up here.” Kanaya nods slowly, processing the new information. But Karkat furrows his eyebrows, thinking.

_A flash of purple and green._

Wait.

Shit.

_FUCK_

“Riana!” Karkat shouts as he runs out the door before Kanaya could catch him. He knows he won’t be able to find her, she could of gone any which way, but he has to try. His legs begin burning and shouting at him to stop, but he tries his best to ignore the pain and continue to run. “Riana!” He shouts again. And then he finds himself on the ground, tripping over his clumsy feet. He quickly jumps back up, again ignoring the pain that immediately sprouts in his calves. The echo of his feet can be heard at least a few halls away, his feet instinctively turn left. But he finds himself at a dead end. He curses under his breath, who even puts dead ends in these things anyway?

Turning back around he begins flying down the hallway, his breaths deep and ragged, panting hard. He continues to shout her name, as loud as his lungs would allow. But then he finds himself on the floor again, but this time he didn’t trip over his own feet, but he felt a huge pain run through his skull. He turns onto his back, but then continues to roll all the way when he sees a blur of purple coming towards him. He throws himself on his feet and takes his sickle from his sylladex, but he’s thrown to the ground by the same force, the sickle flying from his hand. 

And then there’s a heavy weight holding him down, but before he could decipher who it actually was, a blunt object hits the side of his head, and all he can see is red.

//

I take off down the hall after leaving the medical bay, down on all fours, looking for the traitor that did this to Feferi. When I see a grate that leads into the vents, I hoist myself up and tear it off, pushing myself into the cramped space. He’d be here, I just know. It’s easier for me to navigate than any other person; the animal side of me knows how to squeeze into small gaps. I push myself through the small, cold hallways, and search and search for him with no success. Eventually I come to another grate, but when I peer through it I almost scream. I push the grate out and a literal hiss escapes my lips as I attack Karkat’s assailant to the ground. 

Well, attempt to anyway.

Mid-leap I’m tackled to the ground instead. My fists fly claws at the ready and tear at my attacker, and then throwing them off me with my legs, sending them into the wall. I leap at Karkat’s aggressor once more, yanking that hideous joker’s hood off his head and tossing him to the side. I leap to the side just in time to avoid a club to the face, grabbing their collar and forcing them to the ground. His hair revealed from the hood I pulled off, curly and tousled. Before my fist could find his face I’m thrown backwards, landing on my back I roll. Fuck that was some force.

A loud _poof_ echoes around me followed by a blast of steam. I stand back up and grab my gloves before it can disappear and slam my fist into the creature before it can fully appear. Leaping back before the explosions hit me. Well, it clears the steam and leaves the Pokémon dead on the ground. And then there’s a hand clasped around my mouth, long, grey, slender fingers with long yellow claws off the end of them. The second hand of the pair grips around my throat and I gag, instinctively gripping at the hand around my neck. My hiss is muffled by the hand around my mouth and it’s getting harder and harder to breathe. I slam my right elbow into his ribs, startling him for a second, but it wasn’t enough force to make him let go of him. 

My foot flies backwards and into his shin, and he hisses and clenches the hand around my mouth, creating four deep scratches on my cheek. I close my eyes tight and force myself to breathe, even though his hand is still firmly around my neck. Although it makes my throat cold and icy, I ignore it and work on struggling out of his grip. I drop my weight and fall down, and he falls down with me, not expecting it. I nail him in the chest with my elbow again and pry the hand from around my neck, the other slipped from my face when we fell. 

Then the other comes at me, it’s a flash of green but I swing my fist and hit him directly in the jaw. He stops just long enough for me to assure myself it was Ben, but that I already knew. My attention turns back to Gamzee who lay… wait, where’d he go? He was right there! My head flicks back to Ben, and he’s also gone. Forgetting about it, I rush over to Karkat who lay unconscious in the middle of the hallway, bleeding very seriously on his head and torso.  
“Karkat, Karkat can you hear me?” I ask, of course he can’t he’s unconscious. I scoop him up in my arms and instead of running back; I take the faster way and fly. It takes me barely twenty minutes to navigate my way through the numerous halls and corridors, until I finally reach the bay. My feet touch the ground about five metres away and I literally skid to a stop right outside the door, it opens automatically and I carefully place Karkat down.  
“Dear lord, what happened to him?” Kanaya asks.  
“I’ll explain later, right now he needs help.”  
“Oh Gog, Karcrab!” I hear Feferi cry and I turn to her, apparently she’d woken up. Kanaya had already started to work on getting him fixed up. “What happened to him?” Feferi asks.  
“The same thing that happened to you, I’m guessing, he was ambushed by Ben and Gamzee.” I tell her.  
“This is unacceptable! We have to stop them before they hurt anemoneone else!”  
“Yeah, I know.” I say, my hand turning into fists by my side. And with that, I turn and stride out the door, sliding my glasses on and opening a memo.

wakingDragons  [WD] opened memo on board weneedtogetouracttogether

WD: okay guys, I don’t care what you’re doing, you need to just stop.   
WD: we have some serious business to take care of.   
WD: our first hand problem with Ben has now doubled. Gamzee’s gone nuts too.   
WD: come on guys. Learn to keep your damned means of communication on you.   
WD: guys.   
WD: hello?  
redeyedHellmaker   
[RH] responded to memo.   
RH: so what’s our situation?   
WD: I just said, along with Ben, Gamzee has gone rogue too. The two of them have already hurt Feferi, and Karkat is currently unconscious and injured. Kanaya is helping him.   
darkMage  [DM]  responded to memo.   
DM: so our antagonist has finally gained an ally.   
DM: and a powerful one at that.   
DM: what do you suggest we do?  
WD: we have to find them, obviously.   
DM: you are asking us to pursue them, and if possible, take them down.   
WD: well, yeah, that’s the plan.   
arachnidsGrip  [AG]  responded to memo.   
AG: youre lying.   
WD: Vriska, I’m not. Gamzee and Ben both attacked me.   
AG: no, gamzee would never do that.   
AG: hes changed.   
WD: I’m sorry Vriska, but it’s true.   
AG: nononononononono. youre lying you have to 8e lying.   
RH: quit trying to deny it. he’s finally gone nuts… again.   
DM: the idiot is correct in his analogy.   
RH: fuck you too.   
DM: I believe I will pass on that invitation, thank you.   
RH: stfu   
DM: Vriska, you have failed to subdue Gamzee, and therefore failed at completing your acts of a proper moirail.   
WD: Nic! That was extremely rude and unnecessary!   
RH: yeah, fuck face, that was really harsh.   
AG: did you just call me a 8ad moirail?  
hiddenUtopia  [HU]  responded to memo.   
HU: i believe i will take this chance to interject and raise my opinion.   
HU: Nic.   
HU: don’t you ever call my matesprit a bad moirail again.  
DM: my apologies eva, I did not mean to offend you.   
HU: good.

I come across Raine’s bedroom door, and slam it open.  
“Raine you should learn to keep at least _some_ means of communication on you.” It was lucky that she was in there, otherwise I would have made a complete ass of myself talking to thin air. “Now come on, we’re going, we’ve got some work to do.” She gives me a confused look and I shake my head. “Gamzee and Ben are going around attacking everyone, we have to round everybody up so we can stop them.” Her eyebrows furrow.  
“Gamzee too?”  
“Yeah, he’s going all subjugglatory again.” I say it in the most serious tone I can muster up.  
“You mean… killing everybody?” I nod and she throws her necklace on, a lime green beam expands from the stone implanted in it, and a projection of keyboard extending from that.  
“I always wondered how you spoke with a necklace.” I comment and we make our way down the hall to collect the rest of our group, we had some Bard butt to kick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess i don't really know where i'm going with this, but it should fill up a few chapter anyway
> 
> (ps i'll probably be changing some of the texts soon, because i onlyrecently found out how to make custom ones, they'll probably be pretty similar though)


	36. 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow short chapter, and look at Riana being all leaderly like

WD: okay guys we really have to meet up somewhere and discuss this.   
HU: where do you suggest?   
DM: it would probably be satisfactory to rendezvous in one of the minor halls, if we were to meet each other in one of the larger halls there would be a higher chance of being ambushed.   
WD: yeah, i guess. but there are so many minority halls  
friendlySubjugator  [FS] responded to memo.  
FS: hold on then.  
Both Raine and I are swept into blanket of darkness, unwrapping us a few moments later into a completely different room, along with everybody else (except Ben and Gamzee of course. Oh, and Kanaya and Karkat.)  
"The hell is goin on?"  Eridan says rather stunned, and then all our eyes are burning with a sudden brightness with a flick of a light switch.   
"This good enough?" William asks. I nod my head a little and shake out of my confusion that had dwelled over me for a second before clapping my hands.  
“Alright, first things first, we need to find these traitorous asses.” I see Vriska snarl at me out of the corner of my eye, right, I just insulted her Moirail. Ignoring her, I look around at everybody, “Any ideas on how?”  
“Wwould somebody please explain to us wwhat the fuck is goin on?”  
“Yeah stop leaving us in the dark.”  Sollux says crossing his arms, all three of his heads tilting to the side.  
“Well, okay. Um, basically, Ben and Gamzee are going on a rampage, they have already attacked Karkat, Feferi and I, and won’t stop at just that. It’s pretty clear that we need to stop them before they hurt, or possibly kill, anybody else. Karkat is being treated right now, and as you can see Feferi is in a pretty bad state.” All eyes turn to Feferi as I point her out, bandages around her middle. But she smiles and assures everybody that she is alright. “We need a game plan people. If we’re going to stop them we need to plan this out.” I turn to Vriska and she looks up at me, a look on her face as if challenging me. “Vriska, I’m putting you in charge of Gamzee, you’re his Moirail after all. Take Eva and,” I run through my head all the possible people she could take with her, not Raine; they’ll surely bicker at each other. I would think Equius because they seem to get along fine, but the problem with that is that he’s Kismesis’ with Gamzee, and that would turn out terribly. Not Nic because Vriska would want to get him back for calling her a bad Moirail. All the other outcomes turn up empty until I spy Jamie. “Jamie.” All three nod, Vriska a little more reluctantly that the other two. 

“William I want you to take Alec and possibly Eridan.” He nods and Alec stares intently at me trying to read what I’m saying, but seems to catch the gist of it as he also nods. Eridan slinks over to the two of them, grumbling to himself about being with a bunch of low lives or something. “Nic, I want you to take Feferi back to the med clinic and watch over Karkat, Kanaya and Feferi. Equius, Raine, You’re with me, and Sollux, you can either join William’s or Vriska’s team.” He slowly hovers over to Vriska, probably for the best as Eridan and Sollux would fight with each other. “And Tavros, you can join us.” He nods and hovers to our side. “Right, now that that’s sorted; let’s get this search started, shall we?” Every head in the room nods, some more reluctant than others though. My group heads out the door first, Tavros having to slide out sideways to be able to fit. 

Our groups split into two, an eventually split off as we pass through separate halls. There was really only two things on my mind at this point; and that was the traitorous Ben and Gamzee, and the thought of Karkat lying on the hospital bed looking close to dead. The further we walk the quieter and more eerie it becomes, the only sound is the bouncing echoes of our footsteps. I hadn’t even realised I’d been squinting in the darkness until Raine flipped on a light source.  
“So does anybody actually have any clue how we’re going to find these guys?” She asks, but her eyes continue to scout the hall.  
“No clue.” I tell her truthfully.  
“So what you are saying is that you split us all up into groups, pretending to know what you are doing, but in actual fact you don’t have the slightest clue?” Equius asks, sounding rather bitter.  
“Well, I wouldn’t say I haven’t got a clue, I do know that they are travelling around in the vents, well that part was obvious. They’re also travelling together, so if we encounter one expect the other to not be so far behind. So yeah, keep an eye out for any flashes of purple or green, got it?” I hear two mumbles of acknowledgement, but a third is missing. I turn around and swing my head side to side, looking for the fourth member of our party. “Tavros?”

//

Tavros’ eyes flutter open, but squint back shut again as he exposes them to an extremely bright light. He shields his eyes and sits up and finds left arm is barred down. Panic begins to overwhelm him, where was he? How did he get here? Were the others alright? Where were they? His breathing begins to escalate and he swings his head side to side in fear, searching for them.  
“Oh, uh, um. God. Uh, oh god.”  He begins to stutter but then he hears a door swing open behind him and her does all he can to turn around. Standing there in a green Bard outfit is Ben, and in his hand he holds a human equivalent to an Oogonibomb. His eyes flicker the colour of a high blood, deeper at his iris and lighter where his pupils should be. He holds the ball up to his chest and throws it at the floor, opening to reveal a monster with scythes as arms and a brown exoskeleton. It stares at Tavros with intent eyes, it looks as though it could and has killed, and this makes Tavros’ chest tighten.  
“Hey buddy, wassup.” He didn’t ask it, which made it sound a shit tonne scarier than it should have. Ben walks closer to him, the strange ‘Pokémon’ (also known as Kabutops) by his side. Tavros attempts to scuttle back, but the fact that his wispy leg/tail exists and his hand is chained makes this impossible. Ben looks down at Kabutops, and it’s like a smile curves up on its non-existent lips. It raises a scythed arm and just as it was about to swing down on Tavros a voice booms from the doorway. 

“STOP.” Its arm stops mid swing and Tavros opens his eyes he’s squeezed shut, seeing Gamzee standing in the doorway, hood down but eyes wide with fury. “Who the mother fuck said you could hurt my Tavbro? NOBODY THAT’S MOTHER FUCKING WHO. You don’t hurt Tav. NOBODY HURTS TAV. Get your understanding on. ALL UP AND UNDERSTAND YOUR PLACE. Because, my brother. YOU ARE ALL UP AND INFERIOR TO ME. Leave Tavros. LEAVE HIM THE MOTHER FUCK ALONE. Understand?” Ben looks almost scared towards him and swallows thickly, nodding quickly, returning Kabutops to the ball and swiftly leaving the room. Gamzee watches him leave and as soon as he turns back to Tavros and sees his terrified look, his expression softens and a smile curls on his lips. “It’s alright, Tavbro, I won’t let nobody all up and hurt you. A brother like you don’t deserve no mother fucking punishment unlike the rest of these mother fucking low bloods.” Tavros blinks and shakes his head just slightly.  
“Gamzee. This isn’t like you. Gamzee please just, uh, go back. I want you to go back and being sweet and the guy who wouldn’t hurt anybody. Gamzee please, I, uh, just want you back.” 

“But Tavbro, this is me, this is who I was meant to be.” The smile on his face was so scary, tears began to form in his eyes, and his heart tore a little more.


	37. 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow Riana you must be pissed off to be able to do that
> 
> (and that fcking update, no poor karkat.)

I begin to search frantically, calling his name but hearing no response.  
“Tavros? Tavros?! Fuck. I’m going to fucking kill them.” I look up towards the vents, finding the nearest grate and hoisting myself up, not even bothering to look back to see if the others were following. I don’t crawl through them; instead I propel myself forwards, using my dreamself flying abilities and nearly slam into the corners. But I manage to turn just in time to avoid any serious injuries. I can hear Raine calling my name from far behind, but I don’t stop, I won’t stop until I find Tavros and the traitors. Rage is what fuels my flight, I can’t remember the last time I flew so fast, and the walls are just a grey blur around me. Something begins to overwhelm me, something dark and dangerous deep within, and a roar escapes from my lips. I hold my elbow back with my hand in a fist, the next wall I approach in slam my fist into and open the vent right up, allowing me to pass through it. 

I was back in the hall but continued to blast onwards; these assholes have gone too far, first hurting Feferi, and now taking Tavros. But really the major thing I’m upset about is that they nearly killed Karkat, and another roar escapes my lips. I turn a ninety degree corner and fly downstairs, deep into the meteor. Finding the end of the stairs I take a right, the corridor becomes narrower and narrower until I reach a dead end, but before I could stop myself I’ve flung my fist through it and broken it entirely, damn some of these walls are fragile. The first thing I see is a blinding light, but I don’t even have time to adjust before I realise I’ve pinned Ben up against the wall. My lips are turned up into a ferocious snarl, teeth bared and growl after growl rattling from my throat. I pull him forwards and then slam his head back into the wall.  
“Where is he?” I demanded, ben just gives me an insane smile. I pull my arm back and slam his head against the wall again, this time I see blood on the metal wall behind him once I pull him forwards again. “ _Where is he?!_ ” But he doesn’t answer me. I throw him to the ground, my mind so filled with rage I can barely even register what I’m doing. My foot finds his cheekbone, the pointy end of my shoe digging into his cheek, creating a deep wound. And that’s when I feel the crack through my toes and he gasps out, his eyes flicking back to normal for a few moments and he attempts to sit up but finds my foot pinning him to the floor. “ _Where is Tavros?!_ What is Gamzee doing to him? _Tell me now!_ ” But his eyes flicker back to fuchsia and he just grins. I grab his collar and shove him back into the wall, I’m getting blood all over my outfit but I don’t particularly care. I push on his throat and he begins to choke, I know I’m the freaking Sylph of Breath and I’m supposed to _heal_ peoples breathing and shit, not choke the breath out of them, but I really couldn’t give less of a shit right now.

His face begins to grow a bright red as my grip tightens around his throat, my claws beginning to dig into his neck. And then the pink colour disappears from his eyes and he looks at me with intense fear, his eyes widen and I can see tears starting to form. Shit, _shit_. I drop him and he falls to the ground, scuttling away from me and caressing his severely lacerated cheek and broken jawbone. He points to the next room and my head flicks to the side. I look back towards Ben, he looks sincerely scared for his life right now, his eyes have returned to their normal mud brown colour. Shit. I open the door to find Gamzee standing over Tavros, his eyes wide and a grin plastered on his face. 

“Gamzee! Don’t do this! Tavros is your friend! Don’t hurt him!” I shout but then realise he hasn’t actually got his clubs in his hands.  
“Uh, no Riana, it’s alright. I, uh, don’t think he’s going to hurt me. But, uh. You should get out of here, before he hurts you…” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence before Gamzee flips his clubs out and leaps right at me. But I’m still too fucking angry to allow him to hurt anybody else. I could only see a purple flash, but I’m sure all he could see was a blue one that elbowed him in the face hard enough to break his nose (again thank you Equius.) But being the clown he is it barely even made a crack. But it did stop him in his track enough for me to grip him around the throat and slam him against the wall. “Riana, uh, please… please don’t hurt him.” Tavros stutters and I look at him thinking _are you nuts?!_ but before I could turn my attention back to Gamzee, the said clown slams his feet into my gut, letting himself out of my grip and pushing me to the ground. I barely have enough time to close my eyes as I see the base of his foot flying straight towards me, aiming right for my neck.

But nothing happens.

I wait for a broken neck.

But still nothing.

I open my eyes again and see Ben holding him back, regardless of the tears streaming from his eyes and blood pouring from his wounds. I quickly stand up and take my first alchemised bat from my sylladex (yes I’ve still got it.)  
“Little mother fucker. KNOW YOUR MOTHER FUCKING PLACE. Get off me. GET THE MOTHER FUCK OFF ME…” Gamzee starts but before he could say anymore I’ve slammed the bat into his cheek, taking him right out of Ben’s arms and onto the floor. I place my knee on his chest and begin to slap him violently.  
“Snap. Out. Of. It. You. Stupid. Fucking. Clown. You’re better than this Gamzee. I know you are.” His eyes widen with each slap. But I won’t let him up, not until I’m sure he’s out of his subjugglator state. I see Ben in front of me fiddling with his phone, his left hand fiddling with the text and the other still holding his wounded face. But I continue to slap Gamzee silly, that is until Vriska runs through the door and slams me in the face.

//

raichusThunder [RT]  began pestering arachnidsGrip  [AG]

RT: Vriska you have to helpus. You havva come here and get gamzee uner control.   
AG: you.   
RT: what?   
AG: how dare you!   
RT: what?   
AG: Gamzee was changed, Gamzee was 8etter. And then YOU came along and made him like this again.   
RT: look vris I can esplain later just you havva get here right now and help. Gamzees nuts. rianas here and is trying to knock sense into him but  
AG: where are you?   
RT: uh   
AG: where the f8ck 8re y8u?!   
RT: in one of the smaller downstair rooms. You kno the real real bright one.   
AG: you 8etter not 8e tricking me.   
RT: I can promis that this aint no trap man, pls just get down here before thins get too hectic. 

arachnidsGrip [AG]  ceased being pestered by raichusThunder  [RT]

Ben looks back down at Riana, she’ got her knee pinned into his chest and he can tell that that must be extremely uncomfortable to him. He slips his phone back into his pocket and touches his hand to the deep gash in his cheek. He deserved it, he knew he did. He never should have accepted the Batterwitch’s deal, never should have become her pawn. Although he didn’t have much choice, she would have killed everyone as soon as they arrived at the alpha session. Breaking him out of his thoughts is Vriska running through the door and literally ramming Riana and punching her in the face. She flies back into the bench Tavros was witnessing all this on and hits her head, which knocked her out cold. Vriska grabs Gamzee by the collar and stares at him, eyes intent on making him sane again. She pulls him close and doesn’t let him go; patting his back and whispering hushed shooshes into his ear. She pulls the bard hood down off his head and runs her fingers through his hair, and with her other hand paps him softly. 

“Shh, Gamzee, shoosh. It’ll be alright. You’re going to be alright. You’re going to come back to us. Shh. Come on Gamz, shush now.” She says rather soothingly. Gamzee’s face contorts into a focused expression; eyes scrunched closed, fangs bared and hands balled into fists. A soft honk escapes him, and then a following louder one. “Gamzee, you silly clown, quiet. Shhhhhhhh.” She paps him in his mess of hair and rests her head on the side of his, a long ‘shhhhhh’ filling the room. Gamzee’s hands soon unfold from their fists, allowing him to grip Vriska’s shirt. He rests his chin on her shoulder, un gritting his teeth and his eyes slowly open. They’re sad, that’s the first thing Ben notices, and he hates himself for letting him get like this, hates himself for forcing him back into that subjugglator state. For letting Her get to him, he never should have let it happen, never should have let her control himself.  
“I’m sorry, sis. I don’t know what all up and came the mother fuck over me…” Gamzee starts but Vriska cuts him off  
“Shhh, it’s alright Gamzee. Everything’s alright now.”  
“No it’s not. I got my mother fucking hurt on Fefsis and Karbro… shit are they alright? I have to get my apologising on.”  
“Soon, Gamzee, soon. Right now you just need to shut up.” She gives him one last pap on the shoulder before taking his arms and pushing him gently away. And then, right at that very moment, Eva and Jamie slide through the door and sigh in relief when they notice everything is under control. Until Eva spots Ben and gasps out in horror.  
“Ben, oh my god…” She begins to run up to him but then remembers that he was actually one of the ones they were searching for. “uh…” She pauses right in front of him, but he looks up at her with sad, sad eyes.  
“I’m sorry Eve, I’m so, so sorry.” Eva gathers him up in her arms and hugs him tight.  
“It’s alright Ben, we’ll be alright.” Both of them have tears in their eyes.


	38. 38

After my short spell and visiting the dream bubbles I’m awaken by a nudge of a foot. My eyes flutter open and I’m staring up at Alec.  
“Get up. I need to speak with you.” I blink twice and sit up, realising I’ve been placed in my room.  
“Ugh.” Is the only response I manage.  
“Riana get the fuck up.” He gently shoves me in the shoulder and I slap his hand away, rolling my eyes.  
“I’m up I’m up. Geez.” I slide off the bed and pat myself down, heaving a sigh and turning to Alec. “What is it?”  
“Can we walk?”  
“Fine.” The door slides open as we pass through it, a long moment of silence passing over us before he starts.  
“You know how I announced the other month how I have voices of the dead prophets in my head? Giving me orders?” I nod twice and he continues, “Well, they’re getting louder and louder. They’re telling me I need to kill Ben, but… I’m just not sure whether I can. I mean, I’m not a _murderer_. I don’t want blood on my hands; I don’t want to kill someone. I just _can’t_ I know I’m supposed to destroy the doom, hence killing Ben. But if I do everybody will hate me. I mean, Jamie would understand, and also the trolls, but Eva would never forgive me, Nic will continue to hate me for doing what he wants to do, Raine and William would be so disappointed I can’t even begin to imagine. And you… well, I don’t know.”

“I wouldn’t hate you. I’d understand.”

He watches my lips move before flicking his eyes to mine.  
“Really?”  
“Sure, it’d be hard to accept at first. But in the end I’d understand.”  
“Help me Riana.” I look at him, he has legitimate tears in his eyes and he just looks so helpless when he cries and oh god no Alec stop crying you’ll make me cry. “You have to help me. I can’t do this on my own.”  
“Alec I…”  
“Please Riana; you just have to… ugh!” He doubles over and I take a stance of shock.  
“Hey Alec, are you alright?”  
“These… damned voices… they’re… they’re so loud. It’s unbearable…” he clutches his head and drops it, fingers tugging at his hair.  
“Hey.” I kneel down next to him and rub his back. “Hey, hey sh sh. Alec it’ll be alright shh.” I continue to rub his back, and then give up and just put an arm around his shoulder, patting his left. He’s still doubled over and crouching down and grasping at his hair. “Shh, Alec, it’ll be alright. Come on Alec, it’s alright. Sh.” I swing around in front of him and take him by the shoulders. He begins to panic, his breathing quickens and I furrow my eyebrows. “Alec, come on. It’ll be okay, just take a deep breath. Come on now, sh sh.” He doesn’t comply though, so I force a deep breath through him, one after the other. Slowly he begins to calm down, but still clasps at his head. 

“They just keep getting louder and louder.” It was barely a whisper. That’s when I notice he’s not wearing his shades, his face contorts into a sad expression, he looks towards the floor and blinks slowly. I take his wrists and gently guide his hands away from his hair, and then I feel his grip around my own. “I’m sorry.” He whispers. He uncurls from his crouch, standing back up slowly and I follow his lead. Pulling him into a gentle hug I rub the back of his head, thankfully he hugs me back and allows me to stroke his hair.  
“It’ll be alright Alec, I’ll help you get through this.” Of course he couldn’t hear/see me talk as he was facing away from me. I take a step back and take him by the shoulders again, taking a deep breath  
“This will probably sound incredibly strange but, Alec I think you need a Moirail.” He looks at me strangely, blinks twice with his jaw hanging agape.  
“A… A real life Moirail?”  
“Yes.”  
“But isn’t that a troll thing? I didn’t know we were capable…” He trails off after realising that if I, a human (well mostly) could experience black feelings, I’m pretty sure humans could experience pale feelings. “But is there anybody who really actually cares that much about me to put up with me?”  
“Yes.”  
“Who?”  
“Take a guess.” He looks me dead in the eye, my teeth slightly showing as my lips curl up into a smile, and he smiles back warmly, and there’s just something inside me that makes me want to hug him tight, and not let him go. As if he were a helpless child who needed somebody to watch over him. Except for the fact that he can doom anything with a touch, let’s not go there though.  
“You’d really…”  
“Alec, I wouldn’t joke about this. It might seem a little weird at first but I know we’ll get used to it after a while. That I know for a fact. Care to give it a try?” He smiles, tis time showing his teeth, making me smile that much wider. I hold my middle and index fingers towards him. “Moirails?” He flips his right hand upside down and touches his own two fingers against mine, creating a diamond shape, and gives an affirming nod. 

“Moirails.” And then he hugs me, and I hug back just as tight. 

But then we’re swept away with a blanket of darkness and appear once more in a different room where everybody had gathered, including Ben and Gamzee, the former standing at the front of the room.  
“Glad you can join us.” William says with a smile, goddamn him. We all turn our attention to Ben, his hands clasped in front of him and his hood down, his once lowered head rises slightly to meet all of our eyes, good, they’re normal. Few were giving him precarious glances, some, such as Nic, were glaring at him intently and others like Jamie and Eva looking rather sad. Ben moves his hand from in front of him to his sides, and looks us dead on, taking a deep breath.  
“Um, well, I kinda dunno whadda say here but, here goes nuthin. Guys I’m sorry fwhat I did. Iwwas dumma me. I’m sorry fer hurtin ya. I’m sorry fer tryin to kill you. I’m sorry fer you especially Gam, fer returnin you tyour subjuglia… subjugglatra… to your murderous side a yerself. I’m sorry, Nic an Alec for turnin you against each other, and for you, Feferi and also Karkat who I’m guessin iztill recovrin. I’m sorry Vris fer turnin your Moral… Moirail, aginst ya an everyone else. An I’m sorry to you Eva, for makin you hurt. Just know that it wasn me, I was bein controlled by herimprous condeshsension. Buhi guess is my fult fer lettin her take ova my mind like that. I guess the only mind that I was lettin destruction through was mah own, an Gamz’s too aguess. So I guess wha I’m tryin to say ere is tha I really am sorry fer makin yall hurt, in whatever way I did, wheder ibe physically or menally or emotionally or what not. Can a fool ever be fagiven for his dumb mistakes?” He looks down at the ground, I could see tears almost starting to form in his eyes. 

Nobody responds for almost half a minute before Eva looks up at him and smiles.  
“Ben, I’m proud of you. You’re my friend of course I can forgive you. Just don’t ever, _ever_ turn to HIC again. If you can keep that promise I can forgive you.” She walks up to him and hugs him, and he hugs her back tight.  
“Thanks.” She nods and takes her seat back up and Jamie walks up and offers a fist bump.  
“’Course I can forgive you bro, can’t stay mad at a brother like you can I now?” Ben smiles and bumps his fist against hers.  
“Thanks sis.”  
“I, on the other hand, cannot possibly forgive you for such ludicrous actions. I cannot even understand why you would possibly want to have anything to do with Her Imperious Condescension in the first place.” Nic scoff and Ben lowers his head.  
“Ben, I guess I can forgive you, but I don’t think I could look at you the same way again.” I speak up and he nods.  
“That’s understandable. An I wanna thank you fer knockin me ta my senses.” This time I nod, but I don’t move from my seat.  
“I guess if Riana can forgive you, I can too.” Raine sits cross legged on the ground and offers him a small smile.  
“Thanks.”  
“ There’s no way I’m forgiving you for what you and GZ did to FF. I just won’t.”  
“I think I’ll be barkin up the same tree as Sol here, can’t forgive you for hurtin Fef.”  
“Eridan what you did to me was much worse than what Ben did to me. At least he didn’t glubbing krill me!” I have to snicker when Eridan flinches. “But Ben I’m not shore whether I can actuwhaley forgive you. I’m sorry but I just don’t know whether I can.” he nods and looks towards the remaining.  
“Of course I’m not going to forgive you for what you did to my Moirail! That’s absurd! In fact I should kill you here and now for it.” Vriska shouts, narrowing her eyes.  
“Palesis, it’s all up and okay, he didn’t mother fucking mean to. But I know I can’t all up and stop you from not mother fucking forgiving him. But a mother fucker himself can all up and get his forgiveness on.” Ben smiles at him and thanks him.  
“I too can oblige to forgive, so long as you do not hurt my Kismesis again, that is my job.” Equius says, a slight smirk appearing on his face, and Raine giving a playful shove.  
“Was that a mother fucking invitation? Cause I can totally get my accepting around that right now.”  
“Perhaps later, you foul mouthed imbicile. Right now is extremely inappropriate if you cannot wrap your tiny wriggler mind around it.”  
“Oh, this bitch is on.”  
“Not now you two.” William says, and then clears his throat. “I can forgive you too, so long as you can swear to never hurt anybody else.” He nods and smiles apologetically. Alec sighs and stands up.  
“I don’t know.” He says. “I really don’t know.” Of course this would be hard for him, how could he forgive him when he has voices inside of his head screaming orders to kill him at him? And then, if he did forgive him, and he ended up fulfilling those orders, who would forgive _him_? “You know I have orders, Ben, and they’re getting louder and louder each passing day…” I put a hand on his shoulder and stand up next to him. He takes me by the wrist and smiles at me.  
“Just do what you think is right.” It sounded so cliché and corny but I don’t care. He nods after reading my lips and turns back to Ben.  
“Ben, I think I can forgive you…” but before he can say much else he’s clutching at his head, falling down, I catch him before he can hit the floor and begin to rub his shoulders gently but rapidly.  
“What’s wrong with him?” Raine asks rather concerned.  
“Hey Alec, it’s alright. Shh. It’s alright, come on Alec sh sh.” I start patting at his shoulder, papping it you might say. I’m not sure whether it works with humans but I can sure as hell try. “Shh, Alec it’s alright. I’m here, everything will be fine, just push it aside, push everything aside, come on now, shh. You’re alright, you’re alright. Deep breaths come on.” I take him into my arms, holding him and making him breathe deeply. “Shhhhh.” I wrap my arm around his shoulder to pap the side of his face and I can feel him start to calm down.

Once I stand him back up everybody’s eyes are upon us. “So we became Morials, get over it.” I say, continuing to rub Alec’s shoulder. “Alright, come on Alec; let’s go for a walk, attempt to clear your mind, huh?” He nods and I take him by the arm. “We’ll be back later.” I say and we head off down the hall.

Actually we were heading to the medic bay to see how Kanaya was doing with Karkat. By then Alec had basically returned to his normal self, so I was able to let him go by the time we arrived. The door slides open and Kanaya’s head snaps towards us.  
“How is he?” I try not to ask in a demanding tone but it’s kind of hard around her. She narrows her eyes at me.  
“He’s doing perfectly fine, well as fine as he can in his state. What are you doing here I thought you were resting and why is Mister Meyer accompanying you?” she asks in an equally demanding tone.  
“I really don’t need to tell you, now do I? Wait no, it’s more like I don’t _want_ to tell you.”  
“Cease your bickering, it’s extremely aggravating.”  
“Well duh.”  
“Ugh… what the fuck even happened?” Karkat stirs and a smile lights up on my face. I fight Kanaya for the first hug and win, hugging him tighter than I should have.  
“Ouch, Riana. That hurts.”  
“Shit, sorry, I’m just so glad to see you’re awake and living.” Kanaya shoves me aside and hugs him herself, I hit the ground with a snarl turned up on my lips, but really I couldn’t care, because Karkat was _alive_ , and that’s all that really mattered to me right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes she was actually shoosh papping him. for a few chapters now i've been wondering if i should make Riana Moirails with Raine or Alec (if any), but i decided that he needed it more. I also think Riana would make a good Moiral.


	39. 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here i spew out an extremely short chapter. I'm sorry i've just had writers block, so don't be surprised if i don't update for another week or so. But i promise i haven't been unproductive, i've been planning for the future of this fic.

I watch from my spot down on the floor as Karkat attempts to sit up with Kanaya’s assistance, but scrunches his eyes shut and puts a hand to his head, lying back down. Using the wall for guidance I push myself back up and make my way over to him.  
“Kar…” I start before he interrupts me.  
“Is everybody alright?”  
“I was just about to ask you the same question, you know, about yourself. But yes, everybody is fine. Better yet, Ben and Gamzee have returned.”  
“Returned…? Oh right. Fuck, you mean I missed it all?” I nod my head once, and an almost inaudible sigh escapes him.  
“Wait just a moment, are you telling us that ben and Gamzee have finally be ridded themselves of their murderous sides? Why was I not informed of this?” Kanaya asks, arms crossed and eyes into slits.  
“Because I couldn’t really give a fuck about telling you.” I smirk and I hear another dramatic breath of air come from Karkat.  
“Guys, now really is not the time.” We both nod, after exchanging menacing glares, and then turn back to Karkat. “Help me up would you? I feel so useless sitting here doing absolute fuck all nothing.” 

About a week passes after the incident; Karkat has healed exceptionally well, Ben and Gamzee both apologised profusely to him, he was able to forgive them reluctantly, Kanaya not so much. Whenever she passes either of them in the hall, she always seems to have her lipstick in hand, shooting them evil glares. Actually, there was this one time where I had to smack her over the back of the head and remind her who she was in a Kismesitude with when she slapped Gamzee in the face, adding more scratch marks to his face, as if he needed them. And then things spiralled into the black from there, by that I mean… well I think you can guess. 

But the following week, something extremely strange happened. Well, strange for some of us anyway. I was in the room when it happened, legs up on Alec’s lap trying to catch some rest, I hadn’t slept the night before. All I could hear was yelling, although it was muffled as a result from my hood being over my head.  
“Hey! Where the hell do you think you’re going?! Get back here! I’m not done with you yet!”  
“Well I’m ‘done’ with you! You and your fucking Matesprit! I’ve had enough of him hurting my Moirail so bad!”  
“Well, it’s not exactly his fault now is it?! He can’t exactly control his strength!”  
“I don’t fucking care, I’m going to have a word with that piece of hoofbeast shit and show him what it’s like to have _both arms and three fucking ribs broken_!”  
“You won’t fucking touch him!”  
“You can’t stop me.”  
“Oh yes I can!” a loud crash echoed around the room, that’s when I flipped my hood off and swung my legs off Alec. Vriska was lying on the floor with Raine over the top of her, I watch after she swings punch after punch after punch. It seems to be as though it was playing in slides, but maybe that was because my eyes were blinking furiously. Rubbing at them I start to walk over towards the two but a hand rests on my shoulder.  
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea.” Alec’s eyes were staring at the two of them. Then he pulls me back as Raine gets kicked off of Vriska and straight towards me. 

__I see her close her eyes as she flips over backwards and into an open space where she lands gracefully and snarls, god that was lucky… well duh. But stealing that luck away from her is Vriska as she’s up in her face, slamming her back into the wall behind her. And then she is literally _in her face_ this time, and Raine’s eyes fly open. Her foot is in Vriska’s gut before Vriska could even manage two seconds of lip-to-lip with her. Raine runs the back of her fist over her mouth, wiping the cerulean lipstick off and jabbing at her bleeding lip.  
“What, _the fuck_.” she asks, an incredulous look on her face.  
“My thoughts exactly.” Kanaya asks kind of bewildered as she walks through the door. But nobody gets to answer her before Vriska is leaping at Raine once more. That’s when Kanaya steps in, grabbing her out of the air.  
“No. No I cannot allow this. I won’t let this happen. I’m guessing this is over Equius, as your conflict normally is. You two do not need to fight because of him, it simply will not do. I’ve let this go too far, I am designating myself as an Auspictice for you two. No ifs or buts about it. You two will meet me in my respite block tomorrow when the clock on your husktops strike noon. If you are late I shall expect an extremely good reason.” And without further ado she drags a protesting Vriska out the door. 

__“The hell’s an Auspictice?” Raine asks and I sigh.  
“Come on, we’ll walk and talk,” I turn to Alec so he can tell I’m addressing him, “you can come too.”  
“Nah, I got other stuff to do, catch ya later.” I nod and walk out the opposite door Vriska and Kanaya left from. 

__So that’s basically what an Auspisticism is.” I finish.  
“Right.”  
“And I believe this is also your room.”  
“Uh huh.”  
“Go to bed, it’s about that time anyway… I think.”  
“But…”  
“Bed.” She sighs.  
“Yes _mum_.” I roll my eyes and shover her inside the door and make my way to my own room. Sighing I collapse on my bed, then decide I should probably change before I pass out. Not five minutes after I’d fallen back on my bed I’d fallen asleep, well at least I’m getting some sleep tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also apologies if i spell Auspictism wrong, it's like the hardest word in the Alternian dictionary
> 
> EDIT: actually i think i have it right now, Auspisticism, frick that's even harder.


	40. 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't think my writers block is exactly over yet, but here have another short, lousy chapter anyway

Time began to fly by faster than i could really believe, and if it weren't for Eva constantly reminding us what the time was (she seems to have an inner clock or something, like her brain itself is a watch) we'd all probably forget that the days were actually passing. All it feels like is one long night that never ends, well technically speaking it is, there is no sun to rise or fall. We had a celebration on Karkat's Wriggling day a few months later, but he refused to make a fuss over it. Although everybody still keeps a watchful eye on them, Gamzee and Ben retain from doing anything out of the ordinary. In fact, Gamzee has even become friendlier and out of the vents, with the help of Vriska. Eva's been watching Alec and I rather closely, fascinated at a human Moiraillegience, and has even found herself in her own pale relationship with Ben.

Although Alec and Nic have become even more hate driven towards each other (no thanks to Nic using his Rage powers on him) Jamie's managed to keep the two of them at bay from killing each other, i actually think she's become an Auspistice herself. Except, in a human kind of way, instead of keeping them from going black for each other, just keeping them from, well like i said before, not killing each other. The celebratory events such as Easter and Thanksgiving we tend to ignore, (aka forget about) but the only one we didn't forget about earlier in the year was Valentine's day, that was the first one i had actually ever spent with a partner/Matesprit, which was kind of a big thing for me.

August roles around way too quickly, and before we know it we're celebrating yet another birthday, Jamie's. Again, we didn't make a big thing about it, in fact Jamie refused to even acknowledge it was her birthday, she didn't seem to really care. I think i know why too. I saw the look on her face after she left the room, her eyes were glistening before she blinked the tears away, and her jaw was tight, as though she were clenching her teeth. My ears being more sensitive than anybody else's, i had also heard her whisper a name under her breath, 'Kristen' before the door closed behind her. Her heart was broken, that much even the most oblivious of people could tell. 

Eva later informed me that Kristen was Jamie's brother.

And that he died five years ago on her Birthday.

Shit, no wonder.

Everybody else's birthday's are bunched together near the end of the year, funny, nobody seemed to mention them last year. By the time November was about to close in on us, Karkat and i both encountered Eridan and Feferi in a kind of black situation, which was kind of surprising, i never would have thought those two would swing that way with each other. Sollux and Eridan, yes, but never Feferi and Eridan. I mean i knew Feferi didn't much like Eridan anymore because of... well i don't need to explain... and that she didn't forgive him and that, but i thought Eridan was flushed for her. But within the next half hour they were settled into a stable (well as stable as black romance can be) Kismesitude. What, the fuck. Apparently Karkat was in as much shock as i was because he just stood there, staring at them in disbelief and... was that _jealousy_ in his eyes? 

Although I shouldn't really be surprised, Karkat's hated Eridan for quite some time now, in a non-platonic way, he's admitted that to both me and Kanaya, speaking of whom, where was she? I hadn't seen her in quite some time, at least six days now. Nobody except Karkat had seen her. Not like it bothered me, i mean, the only thing that could happen on this meteor now is that she get's lost, and if she did i am so going to give her hell for it. But the very next day she makes an appearance, a beaming smile on her face. And then she made her announcement.

"I am proud to say that the Mothergrub has been successfully hatched. I am taking this time to say that i will have an extreme lack of appearance around the meteor. You are all welcome to come visit down in the center if you wish, but no more than two subjects at a time. And please, if you do choose to visit, use the softest voices you possibly can. That will be all." Karkat's face lights up, which then makes me smile as well as making my heart flutter. He walks up to Kanaya, lying a hand on her shoulder and whispers a thank you. All Kanaya seems to do is nod and smile some more.  
"You really have nothing to thank me for, it is my duty after all, don't you think?" And after a brief exchanging of hugs she heads off back down to the center.

A week later i'm lying on one of the many couches, being as lazy as ever, when Sollux waltz's in.  
"Hey Sollux." I say tiredly. Except he doesn't answer. I look up at him as he sits (hovers) at the very edge of the couch after i moved my feet. He has all three chins against his chest, a symphony of sighs escaping him. "Sollux, what's up? You're looking down." The head closest to me looks up and straight at me.  
"It's FF." He says sadly.  
"What's going on with Feferi?"  
"Nothing, it's just that... i guess i'm feeling jealous of her?"  
"Why?"  
"It's not really something you'd understand."  
"Come on can't you at least let me try?" Another sigh elapses from his chest.  
"Fuck. Fine. I guess, i'm jealous because she's filling her quadrants up really quickly, i mean, i know she's only got two quadrants filled... but it's more than i have and probably ever will. And i guess it's not just that? I guess, it's because she went black for ED too. Shit i really shouldn't be discussing this with you of all people. I mean you're only a human."  
"Should I be offended by that. Because i'm not. And you forget, i'm not all human." I give a good tap of my tail to back myself up.  
"Ehehe, i guess you're right. But still."  
"And besides, i have my own black partner, or did you forget about that as well?"  
"That's right, you and KN are Kismesises, aren't you? How's that going?" I think he only just wants to make small talk now. "Actually, i don't think i want you to answer that." He still only has the one head towards me.

//

The year ends on a pretty good note, we seemed to ignore Christmas, a simple 'Merry Christmas' or a 'Happy Twelfth Perigee' (coincidentally they're on the same day this year, i don't actually know if it's the same day all years/sweeps but, eh i don't really care.) All we have to worry about now is what might be to come for next year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm gonna be cutting this meteor ride short, i really tried to get 9 chapters to each year but i just can't think of anything else, ugh. actually the next year will probably be summed up in the one chapter because like i just said i really cannot think of anything. and besides, i am too eager for when they get to the Alpha session, i've already planned out who's planet is going where. i'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible, and maybe even try to make it a long one but no promises


	41. 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YEAR 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry if it sounds weird... i wrote most of it at twelve at night so

Turns out the year goes even faster than the last, literally nothing gets done. Actually, most of us spend our leisure time sleeping, eating, spending time with our quadrant occupiers, and sleeping. Yeah, we did a lot of sleeping. You'd think how much we slept we wouldn't be tired when we woke up, but my god you'd be wrong. You would not believe how tired most of us got over the year. It was rather boring... Okay, that was a hug lie, we ended up passing through the dreambubbles, meeting some of our deceased game players in person, and even found the trolls' Dancestors, although most we'd already met. Alec became fluent in reading lips, and also sign language too, as i found him, Kurloz and Meulin having a silent conversation, except for the occasional laugh from Meulin.

This was basically the most interesting thing that happened all year.

I swear, the years are getting shorter and shorter.

Because, right now, the end of the year has been reached, wow.

But as we were all beginning to prepare for our arrival, Karkat and i stumbled across a very vulnerable Equius. We found him huddled in the corner, asleep, and scratch marks all over him. It seems like somebody spent a night with the clown. Wow, Equius really doesn't look like, well, Equius. He's hunched up, making himself look really small, snores drift up from him, and wow he's loud. He lies on a small pile of horns, and every time he flinches, they squeak. And then there's a half empty faygo bottle in his hand, making Karkat shudder.  
"What happened to him?" I hear him mumble. All I give him is a lighthearted shrug. "He used to be so independent. Nothing would crack him. Nothing would make him like... Like _this_. " I feel my head bob up and down in a slight nod, not really registering anything he's saying, i'm still way too tired. "That clown. That fucking clown. He's the one who did this to him, I'm just begging that he doesn't become addicted to that stuff as that insane clown is. Fucking sugary shit, rots your pan. It's fucking acid, poison. Equius would usually be one to agree with me." A loud sigh escapes his lips as he shakes his head. "I guess there's nothing we can do now though. If he's addicted to that shit, it's not my problem. Fuck, what am i saying, of course it's my problem, everything is my problem. I was supposed to be the leader here, but we all know how much i've failed at that." I shake my head and put a hand on his shoulder.  
"Don't feel down about him, i'm sure he'll be alright."  
"I hope you're right. I know i shouldn't really let this get to me but... i just can't help feeling this is my fault. I should have killed that fucking clown while i got the chance." I close my eyes and try not to shudder, just thinking about him killing someone... the thing is, i know he can. He's done it before. "Well, i guess if i still have some leaderly authority left in me, i can still do one thing for him." Then he kicks the bottle out of Equius' hand.

Not moments later he begins to stir.

"Oh shit." Karkat squeaks, and i can't help but stifle a chuckle, he's cute when he looks scared.  
"Ugh." Equius moans and sits up, an eruption of honks escaping the pile. I hear him breath through his teeth, as if to form a word but stops himself just before it escapes. "Fiddlesticks." He moans instead.  
"Fiddlesticks is right." I say rather amused. He blinks and snaps his head up, as if only just realizing we were both standing there.  
"Makara, he..." He starts but Karkat interrupts him, after swallowing his moment of fear.  
"We gathered. it doesn't take troll Sherlock to figure that out."  
"Yes... indeed."  
"Why tough? Why now of all times?" Karkat asks, rather disappointed.  
"He lured me into it, if you have anybody to blame, blame Makara."  
"Yeah, we already are." I say. A few moments of silence pass before Equius asks,  
"How close are we?"  
"Skaia's now in sight, we can't be more than about two hours away, or according to Eva, two hours and fourteen minutes away, well, it's be about five now." I inform him and he nods.  
"Then, allow me to ask. How are we stopping this meteor?" silence falls between the three of us as the realisation passes over us.  
"Oh shit." Karkat states plainly.  
"Three of the longest fucking 'years' have passed and we haven't even thought about how we're going to stop this fucking thing."  
"I wouldn't say they were ling." I say, obviously not thinking thoroughly.  
"What?"  
"Ugh, i mean the years, in fact i thought they were pretty short."  
"We are about to crash land into Skaia and all you can think about is the length of time these years have felt like?" Equius snaps and i flinch.  
"Hey, don't shout at her!" Karkat snaps back and Equius snarls.  
"You have no orderly functions over us anymore, i suggest you cease your commanding."  
"Shut the fuck up, nobody asked you!"  
"Guys quit it; this is no time for fighting."  
"Yeah, i guess you're right." Karkat gives Equius one last glare before turning back to me. "So does anybody have any clue in how we're actually going to stop this thing?"  
"Maybe William has an idea."  
"Let's hope so."

After navigating the meteor once more we find everybody out on top, looking towards the glowing dot in the distance. I come up behind William and ask straight out,  
"Do you know how we're going to stop this thing?"  
"Yeah. I'll stop us of course. Except i have to work quickly. Once we get close enough i have to firstly set the planets in position, and then i guess i'll have to swing both Meteors, the Beta and this one," i actually forgot about that, "up so we don't crash into the planets. And then i'll have to stop them entirely, landing them on one of the planets i guess. That's going to take a lot of gusto, so i'm just hoping we i have enough time to do this all." He breathes in deep through his nose and then out through his mouth. "Eva, you have to tell me when we have at least twenty minutes left, that should be plenty of time." We all turn our heads to Eva and catch her nod.  
"We have about fourty-eight minutes remaining." I look back towards the glowing dot in the distance, and also catch a glimpse of the Beta Meteor in front of us.  
"Alright, perhaps we should go get ready?" Jamie asks and we all nod, heading back to our rooms.

Filing through my wardrobe i find my Sylph outfit, by now i've grown accustom to the dress, i guess i don't find them all that bad anymore. It's luck Raine is a Maid, she absolutely despises dresses. Taking a deep breath i stroll out of my room, scratching just above my eyebrow in frustration, man this is just as stressful as exams. It's not about meeting everybody, it's more about facing everybody, i mean, there's the Condesce, there's Jade who's gone Grimbark, Jane who's Crockertier, and not to mention there are FOUR Jacks to face, one of whom is completely insane, and another who has first Guardian powers. And then there's Lord English. We all meet up at the top once more, but this time something's off. But i seem to be the only one who notices. My right ear twitches as my eyebrows furrow, it sounds like... it's coming from behind us... I swing around and my eyes widen in shock.

Flying behind us are Sollux and Aradia.

"Oh my god." I say in amazement. Everybody else swings around (including Alec who obviously notices everybody) and they all share my look.  
"Aradia?" Everybody gasps. I watch as the light around the two of them begins to intensify as they begin to speed faster and faster towards us. Soon they've landed right in front of us.  
"Hey guys!" Aradia shouts and hugs each and every one of her friends, including the sprites, and then shakes hands with the rest of us humans.  
"H...How...?" Karkat asks.  
"Well, we met up with alternate us' in the dreambubbles, we didn't think there needed to be two of us, so we decided to try and catch up. Coincidentally, you guys had just passed through the bubbles and we'd only just missed you."  
"But, how did you catch up to us?" Jamie asks.  
"That's a long story." Sollux finally speaks up.  
"Surely you would have had to have had some sort of vessel to carry yourself here?" Equius asks, wiping sweat from his forehead from after Aradia had hugged him.  
"Yeah we did, but we ditched that as soon as the Meteor came into view, it's faster to travel this way anyway." Sollux answers.  
"So how's the trip been so far?" Aradia asks, holding her wrists behind her back. Everybody looks towards Ben and Gamzee, and then immediately look away. But nobody gives her an answer.  
"I think it's best if we don't talk about that." Vriska pipes up, looking from Gamzee to Aradia, and smiling softly. Wow she has changed over the years.  
"Oh wow this is going to get confusing." Sollux (i guess i'll have to refer him to Solluxsprite now) says, hovering forwards. Normal Sollux flinches at the sight of his other half.  
"Three heads... what the fuck?"  
"Long story short our sprites had only been prototyped once and they needed prototyping again and Gamzee decided to throw the body parts of your friends in them." Alec explains, "and the one he landed in just so happened to be prototyped with a three headed dog." He finishes. But afterwards Aradia's eyebrows began to furrow, a questioning look on her face.

"Then where's Terezi and Nepeta?" Gamzee's face twisted into a look of regret, a sigh escaping him.  
"Um, they're not with us... they sort of, um..." I start but trail off, leaving Nic to finish my sentence.  
"They exploded." Both the eyes of Aradia and Sollux widened.  
"Oh." Sollux whispers. Aradia shakes her head then claps her hands together.  
"Well, on to a different subject! I believe we're closing in on Skaia, are we not?" Every head present nods, (except for Sollux's and Aradia's of course,)  
"William, it's about time now, twenty-two minutes." Eva exclaims, William nods again and looks towards the considerably larger dot in the not-so distance.  
"Alright, i'll be back in a bit." And then the space around him wrap him in a black blanket, and with that he's gone.  
"I guess there's nothing to do but wait now." I say, and everyone nods again.

//

Once William teleports himself away, he gathers up the planets which were still circling the meteor, holding both his hands high above hi head. Peeking over his shoulder he spots the Beta meteor not too far away, and working fast he places each planet to the positions he planned out in his head. It takes about eight minutes to do so, and once he's satisfied he turns back to the meteors rushing towards Skaia, but when he spots the Beta one he notices a strange green glow on one of the balconies, like a flickering fire, facing a bunch of other figures. That green fire begins to intensify, and soon engulfs the whole balcony, making the small figures disappear into thin air. William swings back around, the other four planets have been placed, and now there was a total of sixteen planets, quite a tight fit. Not moments later the meteor blasts past him, knocking him back quite a bit, but after he regained his balance he lifts his hands up once more to direct the meteor... well that's what he would have done if it hadn't disappeared into a red gate.

Confusion blinds him for a few seconds before he's reminded of his own meteor that's hurtling towards him. Teleporting himself back to where the others stand and watch, he, once more, holds his hand in the air, transporting everybody but himself to (coincidentally) the Land of Mounds and Xenon. After that he is left to deal with the Meteor himself. But something's off, circling the space around him is almost glitter like substances. And as he passes through a patch his vision is fuzzed, unable to concentrate properly. But as he emerges he's once more able to think clearly and direct the meteor up, making it crash land into LOTAF, just after he jumps off and joins the rest of them on LOMAX.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah as you can see i edited that one page to fit this, just so everybody knows who's where.
> 
> Or to make it more clear it's Dave=>Jamie=>Jake=>Ben=>Jade=>Raine=>Roxy=>William=>John=>Riana=>Jane=>Eva=>Rose=>Nic=>Dirk=>Alec


	42. 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ACT 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that moment when you forget what one of the planets are called and have to go back to earlier and check

The next thing i notice i'm waking up with my memory wiped, the only memory i do have is William appearing on the Meteor again and then there's nothing. I rub my head as i sit up, shielding my eyes from a bright moon shining down on us. The ground below me is a familiar cold, hard metallic feel, and once i take a good look around i understand why. It's silver as far as the eyes can see, and behind me is my house towering up to the first gate. Knocking me out of my daze is a moaning arising next to me, followed by a curse.  
"What the fuck happened?" Karkat shakes his head, rubbing at his eyes. "Where the hell am I?"  
"We're on LOFAT and i'm just as clueless as you as to what happened." He flinches when he hears my voice, obviously not noticing that i was here with him.  
"Oh, yeah, your weird silver planet."  
"it's titanium." I stick my tongue out at him and he rolls his eyes and smiles.  
"Whatever. But more importantly, how did we get here?"  
"No clue." After standing up he takes my hand and pulls me up as well, and i smile back at him. Before long i'm hearing a ding from nowhere, a familiar one though, and then take the glasses out of my sylladex.

\-- redeyedHellmaker [RH]  began pestering wakingDragons [WD] \--

RH: uh hey   
WD: yes?   
RH: don't call me dumb or anything but   
RH: how the hell did i get here?   
WD: where?   
RH: LOSAC   
WD: uh.   
RH: don't tell me you forgot the name of my planet  
WD: um, something about graves or something, right?   
RH: CATACOMBS riana CATACOMBS. land of shadows and CATACOMBS  
WD: oh, right.   
WD: no, i'm having trouble remembering how we got here.   
RH: we?   
WD: i'm here on LOFAT with Karkat.   
RH: okay  
WD: have you talked to anybody else yet?   
RH: no i only just woke up   
WD: yeah, same here.   
RH: at least you get company, i've got no one   
RH: it's lonely over here   
RH: well i guess i got fef   
RH: but she's still out cold  
WD: get over it, we have bigger problems.   
RH: yeah like what even the fuck happened?   
WD: there's that but i'm more worried about William, if he's alright.   
RH: yeah that's right the last we saw of him was when he came back from positioning our planets and then sent us...   
RH: shit where did he send us?   
RH: sure it wasn't him that knocked us out and sent us to our planets and wiped our memories   
WD: why the ever loving fuck would he do that though?   
WD: no, he sent us to one of the alpha kids' planets.   
WD: the hilly one   
RH: shit that's right isn't it?   
RH: LOMAX.   
RH: land of mounds and xenon   
WD: yeah that sounds about right.   
WD: and... and then we met up with the beta kids and trolls and...   
RH: and beta karkat had a skits fit towards our karkat   
WD: yeah, and then   
WD: and then everything black from there.   
RH: i wonder what happens if   
WD: if what?   
RH: if we try pestering them   
WD: wow do you actually know how weird that would be tho.   
RH: yeah it'll be kind of really weird   
RH: but it can't hurt to give it a shot   
RH: could it   
WD: i guess.   
RH: okay i'm  
RH: i'm just going to go ahead and try and talk to dave   
WD: okay, i'll try and catch up with William then.   
RH: sure 

\-- redeyedHellmaker [RH]  ceased pestering wakingDragons [WD] \--

\-- wakingDragons[WD]  began pestering friendlySubjuggator [FS] \--

Okay that was weird, next person. 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  began pestering thunderingHeavens [TH] \--

WD: Raine are you there?   
WD: dammit Raine what did i say about keeping your damn communication devices on you? 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  ceased pestering thunderingHeavens [TH] \--

The others are probably the same, so maybe i'll try Alec's suggestion. Taking a deep breath i 'type' in the chumhandle of choice. 

\-- wakingDragons [WD]  began pestering ectoBiologist [EB] \--

WD: um, hello?  
WD: is this   
WD: John?   
EB: oh hey! you must be one of those other people who arrived here, aren't you?   
WD: uh, yeah, i am.   
EB: but i can't talk right now. i'm trying to find rose's teen mum.   
EB: and i'm kind of on the run.   
EB: oh, speaking of rose, i wouldn't suggest talking to her.   
EB: (i think she's got a hangover hehe)   
EB: and things are sort of a little weird.   
EB: glitchy, weird.   
WD: um okay?   
EB: alright bye!   


\-- ectoBiologist [EB]  ceased pestering wakingDragons [WD] \--

"Oh." Is all i say.  
"Oh what?" Shit i forgot Karkat was there.  
"Uh, don't worry about it."  
"Any ideas yet? About how we got here?" I shake my head, no. "Fuck. Alright i'm going to see if i can figure out where Kanaya is." He pulls a small device from his sylladex, an alchemised version of his husktop i believe. I sigh... but then an idea pops into my head. What would happen if i tried pestering beta Karkat? 'Typing' in the trollhandle it only comes up with one, a grey coloured one, yet the one in my tagged handles is red. 

\-- wakingDragons [WD] began pestering carcinogeneticist [CG] \--

WD: so, hi, i guess.   
CG: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?    
WD: you haven't figured that out? obviously i'm one of 'those people' who arrived here after you.   
CG: FUCK YOURE ONE OF THOSE FUCKASSES?    
CG: RIANA WHY ARE YOU PESTERING ME IF YOU WANT TO TALK TO ME, I AM RIGHT HERE YOU KNOW. AND BESIDES I'M TRYING TO TALK TO KANAYA, I TOLD YOU THAT.    
CG: WHAT THE FUCK?    
WD: oh well okay.    
CG: WAIT WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING TO ANOTHER ME?    
CG: MORE FUCKING IMPORTANTLY WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN RED?!    
WD: i told you, remember?    
CG: WHAT WHEN?    
CG: RIANA, WHEN DID YOU EVER GET THE CHANCE TO TELL HIM?   
WD: we met in the dreambubble, remember?   
WD: a year or two ago.    
CG: YOU EXPECT ME TO REMEMBER THAT FUCKING LONG AGO!    
CG: DON'T SHOUT AT HER.    
CG: I'LL SHOUT AT WHOEVER THE FUCK I LIKE AND A STUPID NOOKSNIFFER LIKE YOU CAN'T STOP ME!    
WD: i suggest you don't call him that.    
CG: I'LL CALL HIM WHATEVER THE FUCK I WANT TO!    
CG: AND WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO SO FUCKING PROTECTIVE TOWARDS EACH OTHER?    
CG: WE'RE MATESPRITS.    
WD: we're Matesprits.    
CG: WHAT?!    
CG: I HAVE TO GET BACK TO TALKING WITH KANAYA, I'M DONE TALKING TO YOU ASSHOLE.

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased being pestered by wakingDragons [WD] \-- 

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling wakingDragons [WD]

CG: WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?   
WD: this was a bad idea, talk to you later B Karkat. 

wakingDragons [WD] ceased being trolled by carcinoGeneticist [CG]

I throw Karkat a glance, he's got a smile on his face, and when he looks back at me, we both crack up laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know i'm just guessing this would happen, and wow the two Kanaya's will get confusing, (and also the stardust glitches wouldn't help the mixed conversation, how about we include that in the cause)
> 
> btw i changed Eva's planet, nothing too different, just from Land of Weather and Machines to Land of Weather and Gears, i just thought it fit better and that was kind of the word i was looking for when i was deciding on what to call it.


	43. 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really can't write Dave, on the upside i think i've finally got his typing style down, which really annoys me because he uses no punctuation and that's really hard for me

redeyedHellmaker [RH] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

RH: so uh  
RH: i guess an introduction is in order huh?   
TG: who the hell are you   
RH: oh   
RH: you don't remember meeting us?   
TG: does it look like i remember no i don't   
RH: uh   
RH: i'm alec   
RH: you know   
RH: from the other bunch of people who arrived here   
TG: wait   
TG: shit   
TG: thats right you other randoms appeared right after us   
TG: what the fuck was with that   
RH: um   
RH: basically the same reason you guys came here   
RH: uh, i think   
TG: right   
TG: so alec   
TG: have you got any fucking clue about how we got here   
TG: on our own planets when were on that stone henge one   
RH: uh no i have no clue   
TG: stop fucking stuttering its annoying as shit   
RH: sorry   
RH: it's just   
RH: you know what never mind   
TG: whatever   
TG: so where are our teenage guardians anyways   
RH: our teenage guardians what  
RH: oh you mean jane roxy jake and dirk   
RH: i think i have a fair idea, i'm not sure if they're there anymore though   
TG: where   
RH: if i tell you you have to promise not to ask how i know   
TG: fine   
RH: last i remember jane roxy and jake are all on derse somewhere   
TG: what do you mean last you remember   
RH: godammit what did i just say i just told you not to ask   
TG: hey thats a completely different question there is a world of difference   
TG: like if you measured the   
RH: please don't use metaphors   
TG: why the fuck not   
RH: because they are stupid, i may have used them once or twice but now i know that they are just plain stupid   
TG: hey dont dis the metaphors metaphors are cool   
TG: cool as ice man   
TG: as cool as the ice from antarctica   
RH: godammit do you not listen   
TG: stfu   
RH: fucking make me   
TG: anyway   
TG: if thats where those three are wheres teen   
TG: bro   
RH: oh right   
RH: dirk is   
TG: dirk is where   
RH: let's just keep it at dirk is not on derse   
TG: you dont fucking say   
RH: sigh   
RH: just never mind   
RH: I’m going to go talk to william or someone   
RH: I thought this would have been interesting   
RH: turns out you’re just an annoying douche   
RH: goodbye 

redeyedHellmaker [RH] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] 

TG: who the fuck is william 

Maybe that was kind of harsh, Alec ponders to himself, and then sighs. Shaking his head he brings up pesterchum once more, selecting friendlySubjuggator on his chumroll and opens a new pesterlog.

redeyedHellmaker [RH] began pestering friendlySubjuggator [FS] 

 

RH: will? 

_That was weird_ , he thinks to himself and shakes his head again. And then something catches his attention, a small light appearing in front of him, which transforms into a larger mass of light, and finally into a figure.  
"Holy what?" Alec says before he can stop himself. "You... You're John... right?" Well if the heir outfit didn't prove that.  
"Yeah! That's right. And if i can remember correctly, you're Alec?"  
"Yeah, that's right." He nods, looking up at him. "Wh... What just happened right now... i mean... that's not any windy power is it?" He babbles out before he can even get time to think his sentence out straight.  
"No you're right. It's really hard to explain, hehe." he rubs the back of his head and smiles, and then readjusts his glasses on his nose. "So, what is this place? It's really... dark."  
"Uh... it's LOSAC. Um, Land of Shadows and Catacombs that is to say."  
"Huh. No offense or anything but it's kind of a really gloomy place, isn't it?" He looks around, his lips forming a straight(ish) line.  
"None taken, I... I kinda have to agree." And then something seems to catch his attention, as he cocks his head to the side and swings around.

And faces a very pissed off Grimbark Jade.

"Shit, i have to go, i'll talk to you later." John hurries to say, before Jade leaps at him. But with that he disappears, leaving behind a cold gust of wind.  
"EGBERT!" She literally howls before almost disappearing again. But before she can, Alec jumps and grabs her leg, holding onto it tightly and not letting go. "Let go."  
"Nah. Not happening."  
"I said let go!" She begins to kick at him, but yet he still refuses to let go.  
"Jade, i'm not letting go." Her green eyes narrow into slits before she holds a finger towards him.  
"Fine, have it your way." A small slither of green flies from her finger tip and encases Alec, making him disappear and then reappear somewhere entirely different. He looks left to right, and back again and then gasps at who he sees. Puffy burgundy shorts with the same coloured shirt, fingerless gloves extending halfway up his forearm, one hand of which clenches a katana. His outfit matches Alec's own, other than the colours and the symbol for Heart on his chest. Triangular glasses rest on the bridge of his nose, turning towards Alec.  
"Oh, hey, you must be Dirk." Alec says and receives only a simple nod. But before any proper greetings could be exchanged, the two Princes spot a dark figure speeding towards him, Dirk's grip on the katana tightens ever so slightly, and Alec prepares to reach for his gun still in his sylladex, he'd never leave it behind. But when the figure becomes recognisable, he gasps in shock, he followed them here... how... he takes the gun from his sylladex and doesn't hesitate to fire at the oncoming Jack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this was a short chapter


	44. 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling hiddenUtopia [HU] 

AG: eva   
HU: yes?   
AG: can i ask you something?   
HU: of course you can, why couldn't you?   
AG: where the hell am i?   
HU: i don't know, could you describe your surroundings?   
AG: well   
AG: it's kind of dark   
AG: and rather 8reezy   
AG: the sky's covered with dark clouds   
AG: i guess that's why it's so dark hahahahahahahaha   
AG: and there's glowy mushrooms   
AG: and i can hear glu88ing in the far of distance   
AG: and honking   
AG: 8ut that's just gamzee   
AG: it's kind of eery   
AG: and weird   
HU: Vriska, are you alright?  
AG: uh   
AG: yeah   
HU: Vriska   
AG: um   
HU: you can tell me Vriska   
AG: eva   
AG: please don't take this the wrong way   
AG: 8ut   
AG: i really don't think this is working out   
AG: i mean   
AG: i do like you   
AG: 8ut i guess over the sweep it's   
AG: 8ecome more pl8tonic   
AG: please don't h8 me eva   
HU: oh   
HU: um, okay   
AG: okay????????   
HU: i mean   
HU: um   
HU: i guess   
HU: if that's the way you feel i guess   
HU: um   
HU: i guess   
AG: guess what?   
HU: i guess there's really not much i can do about it   
HU: but   
HU if this is the way you felt for that long   
HU: why didn't you say anything?   
AG: i just didn't want to hurt you, i guess   
AG: i mean, i knew i had to tell you sometime   
AG: i just thought now should 8e the time, while we're all confused   
HU: how does that make any sense   
AG: ........   
AG: i don't know   
HU: so   
HU: you just want to be friends   
HU: right   
HU: um   
HU: can   
HU: can that even be a thing now?   
HU: without it being awkward?   
AG: i guess you've got a point   
AG: look, eva, i really am sorry   
HU: no, Vriska, it's fine   
AG: 8ut the thing is i don't 8elieve that it is   
HU: Vriska it's okay, really   
AG: 8ut   
HU: everything is FINE vriska! everything is PEACHY!   
HU: i am COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY OKAY WITH THIS!   
HU: I REALLY COULD NOT BE BETTER NOW JUST LEAVE IT!   
AG: eva, i've never seen you yell 8efore, you really aren't alright   
HU: I AM FINE VRISKA I MEAN IT! CAN YOU NOT JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT?!   
AG: um wow. eva you really need to calm down, i told you i was sorry.   
AG: where the hell is 8en  
HU: SHUT UP! 

hiddenUtopia [HU] blocked arachnidsGrip [AG]

Vrisk stares at the very last line, slowly blinking in shock. This did not go as she had planned, not at all. She still had no idea where she was, and it was starting to get pretty chilly, the breeze here is really quite cold. Sighing, she spins around to go find her Moirail, being able to easily do so, all she had to do was follow the honks. She finds him sitting down and conversing with a salamander, which was glubbing at him and he was honking back at it.  
"Gamzee, what are you doing?" Vriska asks shaking her head slightly.  
"Aw, hey sis, just getting my chilling on with one of natures mother fucking miracles, ain't this little guy mother fucking cute?" He says with a lazy smile plastered on his face. She couldn't disagree with him, the salamander was cute, but all she gives him is a slight bob of the head. They start their conversation anew, Vriska sitting down next to them and getting lost in her own thoughts. 

But all she could really think about was Eva, and how Vriska broke her.

Eva never yelled, not even when she was angry. She'd always keep calm and smile, Vriska could always tell when she was angry, she'd take deep breathes and just close her eyes and when she'd open them again she'd be fine. But this last conversation, she was hurt, she broke her, she never wanted that. All she wanted to do was to tell her that she wasn't as flushed for her as she used to be, but she at least wanted to stay friends. But things wouldn't be the same between them again, and Vriska realised this a little too late.

Tucking her feet up under her, she rests her arms on her knees and her head in the crooks of her elbows, and before long she noticed she was sniffling. Slowly she tilts her head back up and removes her glasses, and wipes a cerulean tear from her eye. But then ferociously begins to scrub at them, no she couldn't cry, she had to be strong, fuck she knew this would happen she KNEW it. Quickly she stands up and away from the other two, hoping that they don't notice her tears, she didn't want to explain to Gamzee what had happened. 

Opening her wings, she takes off into the air with a trail of sparkling dust behind her. She searches the area for an empty spot where she can sit alone to dwell in her own thoughts, and finds her destination not a moment later. Folding her wings back up she sits her back against the tree, tucking he knees up to her chest. She pulls the hood over her head to shield her face from the world, and tries to just breathe, the air tainted with a strange scent of oil. 

After a while, the wind had begun to pick up, tousling her hair quite a bit, she huddles in on herself more to keep herself as warm as she can. What doesn't help is the shadow that had appeared over he, and when she stood up to move somewhere warmer she came face to face with a floating boy.  
"Vriska?" He asks, his buck toothed mouth curving up into a smile.  
"Who are you?" She asks cautiously. The frown falls from his face, and he opens his mouth as if to say something, but shuts it back up when nothing came. Eventually he stuttered out,  
"Vriska, i-it's me, John." Vriska blinks once and then shakes her head slightly.  
"Am i supposed to know you?" John's eyes widen the slightest bit, and then his shoulders slump.  
"Oh, i guess you don't remember, huh?" He slowly begins to lower himself, and soon his feet are planted firmly on the ground. "But why can't anybody remember? I don't get it..." But before he could finish his sentence his body is encased in light and he'd disappeared.  
"What." She says before shaking her head and sitting back down next to the tree, left to ponder in her own thoughts again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ouch


	45. 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things get incredibly glitchy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, for this chapter to work, you kind of have to think that the stardust glitches are glitching the game itself, as in it's screwing up everything. I've already said this i think about how the pesterlogs were screwed up, how the two Karkat's were talking in the one pesterlog etc. i have had this idea for quite some time, and it's only hit me now while writing this that it couldn't actually work... so then i thought i should somehow get the glitches involved. and because this is my headcanon too. 
> 
> it's eleven o'clock at night i'm tired and full of weird ass ideas shush
> 
> if you want a hint for this chapter read the very last tag, maybe you could figure it out

A loud crack of thunder bellows overhead, rattling the windows of the nearby house towering into the air. A symphony of croaks and ribbits soon follow as the different size and shaped frogs leap for cover. Following the first, a second clap of thunder passes over the sky resulting in two sets of hands clapping over their owners’ ears. But as the thunder catches in a mess of stardust, a loud crackling noise like static fills the air.

“William?”

“Yes Kanaya?”

“May I ask whether this strange matter is actually a segment of your land, or whether it is something else entirely?”

“I don’t know what this is, I am quite certain that this does not belong here. Although it looks strangely like special stardust, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, now that you mention it it does look quite similar to stardust. How do you think it got here?”

“I can’t be sure, but one thing I know for sure, we have to get rid of it somehow.”

“And how do you propose we do so?”

“I really don’t know.” Just as he finishes his sentence, a patch of jittery stardust hovers past him, but with a wave of his hand a black blanket covers it and he sends it back out outside of his land.

“William.”

“Yeah?”

“What did you do with the Meteor?”

“Why?”

“Are you forgetting? I still have to care for the mothergrub.”

“Oh, yeah. Here I’ll…” he’s cut off by another crack of thunder and the two of them cover their ears again. “Take you to it.” He finishes. He raises his hand, palm facing his chest and he sends the two of them where he landed the meteor.

 

It looks a lot bigger when it’s on the ground.

 

Kanaya doesn’t hesitate to find her way inside, and William watches her disappear into one of the buildings. Well, while he has some time on his hands, he might as well think of a way to get rid of all this stardust. He knows he could just send it all back out into space, but the thing was with that it would just come back, so there really was no point. He finds a wall to sit down next to, letting out an exasperated sigh and then moans, everything since they got here has been so infuriating, the fact that he can’t remember what happened after he landed on LOMAX, and all this stardust is making his head hurt, and not to mention the fact that Jade and Jane are out there probably causing a mass disturbance or something.

 

But before he could figure out a way to get rid of the pesky stardust, he decided to try and figure out what had exactly happened.

 

Closing his eyes he thinks back to after jumping off the meteor and landing it safely on LOTAF, but nothing comes. He scratches the top of his head and puts his face into the crook of his elbow, moaning loudly into his arm, god this was really frustrating, but no matter how hard he wracked his mind he just couldn’t remember. His fist hits the wall he’s sitting against, but the sound is drowned out when yet another crack of thunder roars over him. But following that is a large flash of green and floating before him is one Jade Harley.

 

But she’s not looking at him; she’s looking at the meteor behind him, focusing intently as if staring into it. William stands up as she raises her hand and cautiously steps towards her. And then her hand lights up in a blast of green flames, but once dissipated she holds a small, white, animal-like creature, the size of a large baby. Except this baby had horns, and a skull as a head, and a grub-like body.

“Shit.” William says and lurches forwards; just to be kicked in the gut by Jade’s extended foot.  He leaps forwards again though, persistent on getting the mothergrub back, making himself disappear into the space around him, then reappearing behind Jade, intending to knock her down and grab the said mothergrub. But instead Jade mirrored his trick, disappearing in a flash of green and then appearing behind him.

 

Before he knows it he’s on the ground again, skipping along like a stone on water. Wiping the blood from his nose ( _ow that really hurt, ow, ow_ ) he once again lurches towards her, this time taking out his axe and raising it above his head. All she does is smirk and takes her rifle from her sylladex and fires right at him.

 

Well shit.

 

But just before she did so he swings his arm up into the air, creating a rift in which the bullets fly through and out somewhere into space. And then off he goes again, axe held at head level and speeding swiftly towards Jade. Quickly she puts her rifle away and holds her now empty hand towards him, and another flash of green. He barely has enough time to put his axe away before he rams into Kanaya.

“Oof!” she gasps, and then the both of them curse out loud.

“Shit, sorry.” He says, teleporting her safely back to the ground. But then another figure appears in yet  _another_ blaze of green, oh great, now he’s in trouble.

 

He blocks with his axe just in time as an overly large fork is swung at him and wow that’s a tremendous amount of force. His gaze wanders back over to Jade and she’s smirking back at him, a snarl turns up on his lips as he makes himself appear behind her. But he’s grabbed from behind by a very swift Jane and thrown to the ground, a throbbing pain splintering in his arm. He looks back up at the two hovering ladies, a green light encasing one of them.

_You’re not getting away._ He thinks and wraps himself up in darkness just in time to be able to grab Jade’s hood through the green flames. But this causes her to loosen her grip on the mothergrub, and falls from her arm and down down down. Everybody (except Jane) half-screams, but before any of the flying could do anything, Kanaya had already taken off towards it, long legs flying across the ground. Jade shakes out of William’s grip and flies as fast as possible towards it, and just as William began to take off towards her, he’s rammed in the gut with a round, blunt object. Snarling slightly he’s warping once more and catches the mothergrub before it could hit the ground.

 

And yet the same foot is in his gut once more, and he’s sent back, pummeling into Kanaya.

“Shit, again?” He says and stands back up. But Kanaya’s already up and leaping towards Jade, chainsaw at the ready and revving like mad. And then Jade’s rifle is out again, finger on the trigger. “No!” William shouts and slams into Kanaya, coating them in a shield of space, protecting them from the oncoming bullets.

“Was that really necessary?” Kanaya asks, but William doesn’t give her an answer, but instead leaps and wraps his hands around the barrel of the rifle, and tugging it hard out of Jade’s hands. Quickly he captchalogues it and finally he manages to get a hit on her, even though he feel incredibly guilty for hitting a girl. He knows he shouldn’t because it’s a life or death situation, but he can’t help it.

 

But before he can dwell in his minor victory, the same overly large fork has slapped him in the face, leaving three red imprints on his cheek. And then there’s Kanaya who just rammed into Jane, chainsaw against fork. The sound of steel against steel sounds almost like nails on a chalkboard, but Kanaya seems to be doing some damage; a rugged groove had begun to form where the chainsaw had contacted the fork. But just as the chainsaw was about to pass through, Jane leaps back and holds the fork forwards.

 

And then rams it through Kanaya’s middle.

 

“Kanaya!” William shouts as the fork is removed, all thoughts of Jade and the mothergrub lost, he dives after Kanaya. He manages to catch her before she hits the ground, and begins to panic. “No, no, no, no, no, this is bad…” and then an idea strikes him. Jade green blood begins to cover his shirt, she won’t be alive for much longer, all he can do is hope that this could work. He takes one last look at the other two figures before making himself disappear.

 

And when he reappears again, he’s surrounded by an incredible amount of stardust. Ignoring the incredible amount of fuzziness in his head and the throbbing pain in his arm he lays Kanaya down on his Quest bed, kneeling down beside her and her eyes focus on him.

“W-William… you have to get the mothergrub back… p-please.” He closes his eyes as tears beginning to form in his. Unable to respond in fear that his voice might break, he gives a simple nod and bites his bottom lip.

“Oka-” he tries but his worry becomes reality. Most of their voices are incredibly static anyway. Kanaya’s head turns back so she’s facing the sky, her eyes fluttering closed and her last breath leaves her chest. William covers his face with his hands, uncontrollable sobs escaping his lips, and breaths shaking his entire body. After a moment, he takes in a deep breath and slowly stands up, his shoulders slouched, and he’s overwhelmed with anger. And before he knows it he’s disappeared, on the trail of Jade and Jane. And he doesn’t plan to rest until he finds them.

                                                                                                                     

\--

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm making it that the game with the glitches is getting confused between Quest beds and crypt beds/quest crypts w/e. so yeah, you have to use your imagination here people. pls just let it be i know you can't ascend without dreamself, or unless you die on crypt bed but uggghhh i really want this to happen okay
> 
> and that last part was just showing how the game was registering somebody dying on a space quest bed, reading it as Kanaya's instead of William's, and a crypt bed instead of a quest bed. I don't know i wanted to jazz things up hehe.  
> but like i said it's 12 am and i'm full of crazy ideas, i'll probably regret this in the morning.


	46. 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everything was next-to-beautiful until Jane showed up, and then shit hit the whirling device

After we’d finished wiping tears of laughter from our eyes, we get back to being serious, Karkat shaking his head and turning back to his device with a frustrated look on his face.  
“This is strange, who the fuck even is this? This isn’t my Kanaya.” My eyes flick over towards him and he’s shaking, a confused look on his face.  
“What do you mean ‘your Kanaya’… Wait, it’s not beta Kanaya you’re talking to is it?” He pauses for a moment, concentrating and thinking it over.  
“You know what it probably fucking is. Ugh.” His fingers fly over the buttons and once more he sighs. “Yes, it fucking is.” This time I sigh and walk up to him. A strange clinking sound fills the air and my ears twitch around to the source, and soon enough it had begun to rain. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. What the fuck, ouch!” We’re soon being pummelled by the metallic droplets and we both run inside. “What the fuck was that?” Karkat asks.  
“We don’t get normal rain here, it’s titanium rain. Everything is titanium. The rivers the fields the fucking rain…” I trail off, not really needing to finish. He nods, understanding, and looks around.  
“Your hive is fucking tiny.”  
“You don’t say. And it’s house, houses are generally smaller than hives.”  
“Uh, yeah, right.”  
“I can show you around if you want. There’s not much to show…”  
“What the fuck is that _smell_?” He asks, interrupting me. Now that I think about it, there is a putrid smell, and now that I’ve become aware of it I have to plug my nose.  
“God, you’re right.” I look around for the source and head down the hall, looking left and right and gasp when I find it (although it sounded funny with my nose blocked.) “Oh.” Is all I say and pull a face, it really is kind of disgusting, but I guess sad too. One of our cats lay there dead on the ground. Poor thing. The other six are probably lying around somewhere too, I really don’t want to think about it, actually.

“What the ever loving fuck is that?” Karkat says, looking over my shoulder and also pulling a face.  
“It’s my dead cat.”  
“Uh huh.” I grab a towel out of the cupboard behind me and scoop the decomposing corpse up and then straight outside. All the dogs had obviously gone off, now free to go wherever they wanted. I sigh loudly and flop down on my bed once returning to my room, Karkat sitting down next to me and lying his head on my lap. My fingers run through his hair, I can hear him purring softly, which puts a smile on my face. I tilt my head to the side and look up where a picture would normally hang, one of the snow tiger, and a small laugh escapes my lips when I realise that was what made me how I am. That reminds me.

wakingDragons [WD] began pestering redeyedHellmaker [RH] 

WD: hey Alec.   
RH: uh riana now really is not a good time   
WD: well just give me a second to say something would you?   
RH: you literally only have three seconds to tell me   
WD: fine, all I need to say is thanks   
RH: i really don’t know what youre thanking me for but whatever

redeyedHellmaker [RH] ceased pestering wakingDragons [WD] 

Oh well that was rude. We both lay/sit there, many thoughts running through my head. The putrid smell still lingered in the air, a little less than before but still noticeable. I turn my head to the left and see my sister’s collection of books and close my eyes. My sister and I never really got along, I never really got along with any of my family, I guess none of us really did. And then the image of when last I saw my brother flashes in my head, and I fight to hold back tears. I don’t know whether he’s still alive, although the probability of him being so is extremely low, I can’t really be certain anymore. He might not even be on my planet anymore; he might have found his way to the battlefield. Although if that had happened, even if he didn’t die there, he certainly would be now. 

I scrub at my eyes with my free hand, tears had begun to fall down my cheek, and I attempt to stifle a sniffle but fail. Karkat tips his head back and looks at me softly.  
“Riana, what’s wrong?”  
“Uh, never mind.”  
“Come on, you can tell me, you know that right?” I nod and sigh again. “Just thinking of my family is all.” He nods, even though trolls don’t exactly have ‘families’, I can tell he understands. He did watch Kanaya’s ‘death’ after all. Actually I think that may be what he’s thinking about, as a sad expression crosses his face. We both sigh simultaneously, and that’s when we realise it had stopped raining. But we’re both happy to just lay there.

That is, until Jane arrives in a bright flash of green.

We both sit and stand up instantly and grab our weapons of choice, ready for combat if necessary. But Jane, with an apathetic look on her face, ignores us both but stares straight at me. I furrow my eyebrows and narrow my eyes, and unexpected his escaping my lips. She takes a step forwards, but I leap at her with the bat above my head. She easily grabs me out of the air and shoves me back through the window; I slam my head into the hard ground, shattered glass surrounding me. She leaps through the window and grabs my arm and takes off into the air.  
“Riana!” I hear Karkat shout as he climbs through the shattered window. My bat had fallen from my hand, and I couldn’t even get the second one from my sylladex. So the only weapons I had were my claws/nails. I awkwardly swing my fist, but miss her completely, and then try kicking her as well, and still miss.  
“Let me go! Jane! Stop this! Ow, fuck! No that hurts ow!” She tightens her grip so hard I can tell there’s going to be a bruise. And it doesn’t help that she starts digging her own nails into my skin, and I can feel blood begin to ooze out. “Jane! Fuck, stop!” I struggle against her but only result in hurting myself more. Soon all Karkat becomes is a small dot, and after that he disappears from my sight completely. “Jane. Let. Go!” I shout, starting to flail wildly but she doesn’t even flinch, nor does she look at me. 

Then she suddenly comes to a halt as soon as we exit the atmosphere of my planet, and I’m thrown forwards a little bit but still remain in Jane’s grasp. Another figure emerges from a flash of green, a nasty smile on her face.  
“Bark.”  
“Oh no.” I say as I stare at Jade.  
“More like oh yes.” And that’s when I realise the mothergrub in her arms.  
“Oh, _hell_ no. Jade, Kanaya is going to be so pissed off, you better put her back.”  
“ I really don’t think Maryam will be feeling anything anymore.” It takes me only a moment to understand what she means.  
“No, no, no, no, no! Jade, how could you?!”  
“Don’t look at me, I’m not the culprit.” she looks at Jane, and I soon follow. She looks back at me with a blank expression on her face.  
“Fuck, no. Oh god, Jane, please don’t tell me… Jade… Why?” All she gives me is an evil smile. 

And then without warning, William appears behind her, axe high in the air, and tears streaming down his face. Jade’s right ear twitches with her nose, and her eyes narrow, holding her hand out towards Jane and I. We’re both engulfed in green, and I close my eyes. When I open them we’ve landed on the deck of a large red vessel, and my heart stops when I see all the tell-tale signs of Crockercorp. _Shit, shit, shit, shit_ is this only thing going through my head. Jane still has an incredible grip around my arm, and I can see my blood staining her hands. My attention flicks to the door nearest us as it slides open and damn that’s a huge door, well, for obvious reasons. Emerging from the darkness of the doorway is wave after wave of black hair, who’s owner smirks and cackles slightly. She’s adorned with an incredible amount of gold jewellery, and her horns stretch up to the sky. 

And then Jane lets go of me and pushes so I’m looking the Condesce right in the face.

“Whale, whale, whale, look what we caught ourselves.” Wow two puns in her first sentence. The fear must have been showing on my face, because she cackles again, throwing her head back slightly, which makes the waves of black hair ripple. I muster up the courage to at least say,  
“What do you want with me?” Although I think I already knew the answer. She bends down to look at me through fuchsia goggles, making me take a step back. My tails flicks from side to side, the tiger part of me wanting to pounce, but I know better than that. Because if I did she’d probably kill me no problem, and god that’s happened enough times already.  
“I want you to go force the Rogue to hurry it up with her duty. I’ve already acquired one motherglub, but another couldn’t hurt.”  
“W-what?” I stutter, confused. “What are you doing to Roxy?” Of course I knew she was talking about Roxy, she was the only Rogue.  
“No questions, foul blood. Now do as you have been asked.” And that’s when the tiger part of me snaps, but instead of physically doing anything (I have a bit more control than that now) a growl erupts from my throat as I say,  
“Make. Me.” Wrong answer dumbass.  
“Gladly.” And then there’s a shock pulsing through my head, my vision becomes blurry for a few seconds, my mind throbbing as is some unseen force was trying to enter it. 

It’s not long before my skin turns dark grey and black flames dance around me, my tail flicking from side to side as my mouth turns up into a smirk. “Now go and fulfil your duty, Sylph.” She cackles, and I look from Jane and back to the Condesce before throwing myself in the air and towards one of the nearby purple towers, obeying Her Imperious Condescension’s every demand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Riana nooooo


	47. 47

My hands shove at the door to the room concealing Roxy, who sits there with an extremely frustrated look on her face, many perfectly generic objects lay around her. Her masked eyes flick up towards me and she sighs, making me smirk.  
"Hiss, hiss, mother fucker." I say instead of actually hissing.  
"Who r u?" She asks, and just the way she says it you can tell she actually said 'r u.'   
"Me? Oh that's not important. Just call me Riana."  
"Okay. So Riana why are you a big scary cat?" This time i do hiss, and she flinches back ever so slightly.  
"Don't ever call me a fucking cat, got it? And anyway that's none of your business." I had gripped the collar of her hood, staring straight at her with eyes narrowed. I drop her back on the ground and her lips form one straight line, angling down a bit.  
"So what does the batterbitch want now?"  
"Her Imperious Condescension wants you to hurry the fuck up with the Matriorb."  
"But, this shit's harder than it looks. Stealin the nothing from something that doesn't exist is a lot easier said than done."  
"You're just not focusing hard enough."  
"I'm focusing as much as my mind can ok. You try making a space egg out of thin air."  
"I am not a Void player, Breath's my domain. So i can't."  
"What a r u anywho?"  
"I am a Sylph.  
"A Sylph of Breath huh? What does that do?"  
"Silence! No more questions. Now hurry up with the Matriorb before i force it out of you."  
"Ew."  
"Oh shut up."  
"Fine, fine, evil feline Riana. Okay. Let's try this again." She closes her eyes and twiddles her fingers, concentrating. "Come on voidy powers, make me a space egg." Something begins to glow in front of her, forming into a solid, round shape.

It was a fucking beach ball.

I narrow my eyes and pick it up as it bounces towards me, a snarl showing on my face. A low growl emerges from deep in my throat as i squeeze the ball tight, my claws digging into the plastic and it deflates around my hand.   
"Well, that's somethin else." She says bemusedly. I drop the deflated ball to the ground and roll my eyes,  
"Well, at least we're getting somewhere. Now stay here, i'll be back. By the time i get back i want something that at least resembles the Matriorb." She sighs and i slam the door behind me, taking off into the air. My eyes scan over Derse looking for the other tower in which our dear Page is situated. Just like before I throw the door open once i find it, the air is filled with the stardust glitch, making everything jittery and blurry. He's huddled in the corner, knees up against his chest and arms tight around his shins, his whole body is quaking. His head snaps up towards me and he shakes his head and doesn't stop, not even when he puts his face back into the crooks of his arms.   
"Oh god, not another one no no no." he mutters and i smirk.   
"Wow, what a wuss." I say and take a step forwards.  
"What do you want with me? Who are you? Where's Jane? Why is this happening...?"  
"Oh shut up would you?" He bites his lip and quavers and i take another step forwards.  
"Could you at least please tell me who you are?" He asks and i huff.  
"Because you asked so nicely, you can call me Riana." He nods slightly, and i walk ever closer to him, and he flinches away. "Come on, you're supposed to be the Page of Hope, why look so scared? At least _try_ and look a little more hopeful. HIC is doing this all for your benefit anyways. "  
"I-I really don't think that's true..."  
"And why exactly would you say that..." But before i could finish my sentence Jade appears behind, this time she doesn't carry the mothergrub, but she does point at me.  
"Out. No talking to him. HIC has something else planned for him, and right now you're not helping. Go back to Lalonde, make sure she's not trying anything funny." she snaps and i growl, narrowing my eyes.   
"Why don't you shut up. I know what i'm doing."  
"That was an order from Her Imperious Condescension herself. Now get out of here before i make you." I snarl and grumble under my breath, shoving her out of the way before taking off back to Roxy's prison tower. 

"Lousy fucking dog thinks she can order me around i'll show her." I grumble as i swing the door open.  
"Sounds like somebody had a bad trip." Roxy says and i snap.  
"Silence you! You better be getting somewhere with that fucking Matriorb or some fucker's gonna get it." She swallows thickly and looks at me, tugging at the collar of her hood. And then the same green flash appears behind me and i swing around. And before i know it she's shoving a sword at me, not blade forwards, just the hilt.  
"HIC said to give you a copy of it." I take the white sword and stare at it.  
"Caledfwlch. Why?"  
"You have a batkind, that is going to do shit all against Lord English. You can use bat, i think you'll be able to use a sword." And with that she disappears. Fuck. I roll my eyes and captchalogue the legendary piece of shit, turning back to Roxy who's looking at me like _whoa what was that_. My eyes narrow again and i snarl, snapping at her.  
"What the fuck are you looking at? Get back to work Rogue." She pokes her bottom lip out at me and then continues to twiddle her fingers. After a few minutes of creating nothing but beach balls and perfectly generic objects i decide to leave her for a while and head out. 

That's when William appears in front of me.

He looks at me with big eyes and curses. And then louder.   
"Riana, oh shit no. No. Fuck. I am going to fucking kill them. I swear to fucking God." His fists clench around the axe in his hands, and then he looks back at me, tears in his eyes. "I cannot believe she got you too. Riana please don't tell me..."   
"Wiiliam, shut up." That got him. His eyes widen and his jaw opens as if to say something but closes again when nothing comes. And then it's as if an idea flicks into his head because he holds out his spare hand. Snarling at him I grab his wrist and swing him behind me, but before i could let go he grabs hold of my wrist and wraps us up in the cover of darkness. He let's me go and i fall down onto soft ground, and when i go to look up at him he was gone.   
"WILLIAM! GET BACK HERE! WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?! SPENCER!" I shout at the air. My ear twitches as i hear two gasps from behind me, and i swing around. Terezi and Rose are both staring at me in shock. "ARGH!" I shout and leap in the air, towards the first gate high above Rose's house, barely even giving them enough time to register my appearance. It gives off a small ring as i pass through it, and then i'm god knows where in this headache-enduring land. Black flames begin to flick around me as i grow angrier and angrier, and it doesn't take me too long to find the next gate.

Next thing i know i'm exiting a lilac coloured gate and into a land of churning gears high in the sky and some deep underground, and it's as if all the seasons have been crammed into one. It's raining yet the sun is shining intensely through the clouds, it's windy and snowy and everything. My ears twitch again as i hear sobbing from nearby and i swing around to find Eva crammed into a corner, tears running down her face.   
"Goddammit what the fuck is your problem?" I hiss and her head snaps up at me, her face filling with shock. "Never mind i don't give a shit." And then once more i'm off. Things have NOT been going well today, not at all.


	48. 48

Jack quite easily dodges the bullets fired from Alec’s barrel, and then continues to fly right towards him, blade outstretched and pointing in his direction. He dives out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the blade, and he would have fired his gun again if not for Dirk getting in the way. The two were locked in battle, neither refusing to give in to the other, and Alec could only float there and watch as the two strike at each other time and time again, neither of them scoring any hits on the other. Alec could barely even register their swift movements, unable to keep his eyes on either of them, they were simply too fast. 

He holds his gun helplessly in his hand, holding it limply by his side. And then not mere seconds later he notices another Jack flying towards them, and this time he gets the upper hand. He must have stayed still well enough not to draw attention, and also with the help of his dark clothes. It takes three bullets to take the Jack down, but where there's on there's more. And if there's two there's even more than that. Something must have caught Dirk's attention, as he flash-steps (in midair) away from said Antagonist and next to Alec. Both Alec and Jack have confused looks on their faces, but the one one Jack's soon turns to shock as a barrage of bullets fly through him, coming from out of apparently no where. He falls down and then soon out of sight.

"The fuck was that?" Alec asks and Dirk shrugs. Alec turns back to him and holds out a hand, "I'm Alec by the way. And you must be Dirk." He nods and shakes his hand. "We probably should be going, before anymore turn up." He gives a simple nod and they both fly back towards their ring of planets. About two minutes in, Alec notices that Dirk was communing with someone, as he was concentrating on his glasses intently, that's probably a good idea, he wonders if Feferi has woken up yet. 

redeyedHellmaker [RH] began pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC] 

RH: hey fef you up yet?   
CC: yes i am   
CC: w)(at )(appened?   
RH: not quite sure yet  
RH: all ive figured out is that we were on lomax and then were werent   
CC: w)(ats lomax?   
RH: oh right. land of mounds and xenon   
RH: the hilly planet   
CC: o)( yeah, t)(at's right!   
CC: but --EV--ERYT)(ING is black after t)(at, i can't remember a t)(ing.   
RH: same here   
RH: on the plus side i did meet one of the alphas   
CC: w)(ere AR--E you anywave?   
RH: long story short john turned up at losac and we talked for like two seconds before jade turned up and chased him away. jade went after him but before she could disappear i grabbed her legs and tried to live up to my role by trying to stop her but failed miserably because she teleported me out in space and now im here flying back with my new friend dirk   
CC: if i can remember rig)(t, t)(ose jade and jo)(n people are 'Betta' kids, rig)(t? is t)(at w)(at you guys called t)(em?  
RH: yep thats basically it   
CC: t)(at must mean t)(is dirk fellow, is an 'alp)(a'?   
RH: yup   
CC: ocray, i t)(ink i undersand now.   
RH: oh shit   
CC: w)(at's wrong, alec?   
RH: i can see some crazy ass glitches ahead ill catch you later   
CC: w)(at glitches??   
CC: )(ello? 

redeyedHellmaker [RH] ceased pestering cuttlefishCuller [CC] 

As soon as he stops pestering Feferi, they both fly into the big mess of stardust glitches, jittering his vision and sending a tingling sensation over his skin.  
"What the fuck?" Dirk says as he examines the stardust in the air.  
"St-ar d-jus-ts gli-titch-er-res." Alec attempts to say but his speech becomes tainted with it.  
"Wh-a-at?" Dirk asks.  
"Th-si-s sht-eet- i-is f-cuc-kring up o-wer sp-ree-kch. i c-han't th-lleh a th-ign you sa-gy-ing"  
"I-I ca-na't un-res-tur-rend a th-gnig yo-we-re syay-ign."  
"Wha-tht?"  
"I c-na't h-aer you."  
"I th-kink we sh-oo-dl st-opo t-kalk-ign n-wo." Alec runs his thumb and index finger over his lips to simulate a zip, and Dirk nods in agreement. After about five minutes they finally exit the glitch and breathe out in relief, it was getting hard to breathe as well.  
"What was that shit?" Dirk asks. Alec turns to him, he wasn't able to catch what he was saying.  
"What?"  
"What are you deaf? I said what was that shit."  
"Oh. Me and my comrade think they're stardust glitches, you know, from special stardust or some shit. And for your information i am deaf."  
"Oh."  
"Yah." They for another hour without saying anything, an awkward tension in the air. That is until Alec breaks the silence. "So, how long do you think it'll take to get back?"  
"About three hours. Two now i guess."  
"Fuck."  
"Fuck indeed." They barrel through another few clusters of the stardust, a shiver running down Alec's spine.

Eventually, after another two hours of silence except for the occasional attempt to make small talk, LOMAX comes into view. They enter it's atmosphere a few minutes afterwards, and make a swift landing on top of one of the highest hills.  
"Wow, this place is deserted." Alec says matter-of-fact and Dirk nods.  
"Come on, follow me." He jumps off the hill and takes off over the hillside, Alec easily catches up to him, asking,  
"Where we going?"  
"To Jake's gate of course."  
"Of course." But before he could do anymore he's being pestered.

restlessSouls [RS] began pestering redeyedHellmaker [RH] 

RS: alec where da fuq r u?  
RH: im on lomax why?   
RS: get your ass over here now.   
RH: over where?   
RS: did u not get william's message???  
RS: he said everyone on lofaf as soon as they can.   
RS: it's been two hours since he said that, and you're the only one not ere.   
RH: well pardon me for being sent out into the middle of space and then having to fight jack   
RS: wait what?   
RS: y were u out in the middle a space?   
RH: its not like i had a choice i went to stop jade from disappearing, because she appeared on losac and i tried to stop her, and she teleported me out to where dirk was   
RH: and we only just made it back to lomax so im here now   
RS: you got dirk????   
RS: well whateva! just get yer bum over to lofaf now   
RS: you have a job to do 

restlessSouls [RS] ceased pestering redeyedHellmaker [RH] 

"Hey Dirk, change of plan."  
"Why?"  
"We have to make a pit stop on LOFAF, Land of Frost and Frogs that is to say."  
"Yes but why?"  
"I don't know." Alec speeds on ahead, but Dirk matches his speed easily. "It's two lands away, i'm pretty sure. we just have to go back twice and we'll be golden." Dirk gives a simple nod, and it's not long before Jake's house comes into view. They both fly through the second gate, entering into Ben's weird world, coming out from the entrance to a cave and straight into a consort village. His house is easy to spot, as it is situate up high in a strange, funky looking looking mist. Travelling close to the speed of sound, apparently the fastest they can, it takes them mere minutes to reach it, and once again fly through, a high pitched ding sounding as they do so. 

redeyedHellmaker [RH] began pestering restlessSouls [RS]

RH: okay were here where the hell are you?   
RS: find the forest nearest jade's house and you'll find us.   
RS: u can't miss it.   
RH: kay 

redeyedHellmaker [RH] ceased pestering restlessSouls [RS]

"This way." He says and the two of them dart through a bunch of vines and trees, heading towards the building towering into the sky. A minute of flying they emerge from the shrubbery and come to a halt next to her mansion, walking around the opposite side. And they see them, everybody except the beta and alpha (excluding Dirk, Jade and Jane) kids are there. They both cautiously walk up to the large group, but something's off. Something is _really_ off. He only notices as soon as he gets close enough. She holds Caledfwlch in her hand and her eyes dart over to Alec, a smirk growing on her face.  
"Oh no, oh god no Riana."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after this we'll be going back to riana, which is back in the past, so we can catch up to how she got there
> 
> btw i probably should mention that (if you hadn't figured it out) the bullets that took down Jack were the ones from Jade's gun, the one that Wiliam sent out into space a few chapters back??? yeah


	49. 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops i lied it's actually William
> 
> it sounded weird when i was writing it, not sure if it is actually all that good. i'm tired don't blame me

After Sending Riana to LOLAR (for no particular reason, it was just the closest) he disappears once more to track down Jade. She and Jane are going to pay for what they did to Kanaya, and he doesn’t care how long it takes to find them. But he will find them. He can deal with Riana later; she’s not the major concern on his mind right now. He closes his eyes, focusing intently on where she’s been. It’s a new space power he picked up over the trip on the meteor, that’s how he always knew where everyone was when he wanted them all to group together so they could hold discussions. 

Bingo.

He finds himself teleporting to LOHAC, on one of the ledges of Dave’s built up house. He notices five figures down below, one hovering and the rest looking up at the said figure. Dave, Vagabond, and Alligator all stare up at John and William’s eyes turn to slits as he leaps off the building. The warm air stings his eyes as he plummets down towards them, axe in his hand. His spare hand clenches by his side, and then opens again as he stretches it forwards. 

“Hey, watch out!” John shouts as he points up to William, but it’s too late, he slams into Jade and uses the back of his axe to hit the side of her head. He sends her flying off the edge of the building and down to the boiling lava below, not enough time to recover from the blow to the head. “Jade, no!” John shouts and leaps down after her. William watches John reach out to her, eyes wide with horror, their fingers almost touching. And just as she was about to hit the lava, he grabs her wrist and hauls her up, swooping back up.

“Hey, what the hell man.” William looks at Dave and narrows his eyes. “She could have died fuckass.”  
“No fucking shit.”  
“No as in died and not come back, cause you know how this weird as fuck system works. That probably could have been classified as a just death. You know ‘cause apparently she’s evil and all now.”  
“ _No fucking shit_ ”  
“Wait, so you _intended_ to kill her?”  
“How many fucking times do I have to say it before it gets through that thick skull of yours?!”  
“Whoa calm down no need to get all hot headed.”  
“Shut your fucking _trap_!”  
“Wow.” The grip tightens around William’s axe as he grits his teeth, tears beginning to rim the edges of his eyes. “Hey man don’t cry.”  
“Fuck _off_!”  
“Hey, don’t shout at Dave like that!” John comes back, carrying Jade in his arms, who’s rubbing her head. “And what was that for? Why did you go and push her off the building?”  
“Oh, I’ll tell you why. Because _she stole the fucking mothergrub, then she and Jane fucking killed Kanaya!_ ” John nearly drops Jade where she was, but instead drops his jaw.  
“Kanaya, as in Rose’s girlfriend Kanaya?” He asks and William shakes his head, scrubbing tears from his eyes.  
“No, _my_ Kanaya, the one that came with us. Karkat’s going to be heart broken, Riana’s going to be _so incredibly pissed off_ , and everybody else is going to be fucking dead inside! I know I am.” With that last bit he bites his lip, again scrubbing at his eyes. “I’ll deal with you later, now I know you’re going to be pacified for a while. I have other problems.” William holds out his hand sends both John and Jade to LOFAF, completely ignoring Dave. He can hear him calling just as William disappears.

friendlySubjugator [FS] opened memo on board everything is so wrong right now.

FS: whenever you guys get this   
FS: I want you to head straight to LOFAF.   
FS: we have some business to take care of.   
FS: I’ll see you there.

FS  ceased responding to memo  
FS  closed memo. 

He teleports to LOFAT first, and he finds Karkat sitting on a chair outside Riana’s house, and it looks like he’s crying too.  
“Hi Karkat.” He says as he lowers himself to the ground, and Karkat flinches at his voice.  
“Where’s Riana? Do you know if she’s alright? Please tell me she’s alright.” He pleads, an intense look of worry in his eyes. Sighing, William shakes his head, and Karkat’s shoulders drop, as well as any hope in his expression.  
“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t say she’s alright. But, she’s ot dead, that I can assure you of. She’s just… not alright.”  
“Why what the fuck happened?”  
“I’ll explain later right now we’re all gathering in LOFAF. I’ll meet you there.”  
“Wai..” But he’d already sent him off. 

Next up, LOCAH, where he knows Sollux and Aradia await. Aradia notices first (for less than obvious reasons) and waves; William gives a weak wave back. She notices the change in his attitude almost straight away.  
“What’s wrong, William?”  
“I’ll explain everything later. Sorry.” And he sends them off too. And then he finds his way to LOWAS, where he finds Gamzee basically right away and really doesn’t want to be stuck in a conversation with him. So he doesn’t even let him get a word in before he sends him off. Vriska’s probably already on her way, so he leaves her be. He then finds his way to LOWAG, barely giving Equius and Eva time enough to notice him. And then he closes his eyes just like before, focusing on the space around him, and finds his next target, and zaps off somewhere else on the planet. He tackles Riana to the ground before she can even get a chance to notice, and teleports her too.

And then he finds himself there, hopefully the rest can find their own way there. 

He counts the heads, there’s John who’s helping Jade stand, she still has a confused look on her face. And then there’s Karkat who’s looking around with a pined look on his face. And standing side by side is Aradia and Sollux. Eva sits on her own, and Equius, has made his way over to Raine. She was only one land away, that’s probably the reason she got here so quickly. And Ben was also able to get there quite quickly too, also only being one world away but in the opposite direction. Oh, as well as beta Karkat, and Jane, and… Kanaya. Beta Kanaya though. 

“Oh my god Riana?!” It was Karkat from their session, and Riana spins around to her name. But the look on her face was off, she had a look of disappointment, cross with terror, but was covered with a smirk. “Oh god what did they do to you?” He asks, and then Raine turns to her and almost screams.  
“Yeah, right whatever. But somebody tell me, why the fuck is dog breath over there almost passed out?” She asks, not really caring that everybody from their session was staring at her.  
“Because he almost killed her.” John points over in William’s direction and almost everybody gasps, (except Jane, Jade, John, William, and B Karkat and Kanaya.) 

After a while of chatting amongst themselves (and William stopping Riana countless time from trying to escape) the others slowly turn up. The last one to arrive is Alec, and he emerges from around the corner with none other than Dirk Strider.  
"Oh no, oh god no Riana." Alec says, staring right at her, and she lets out the loudest moan she could possibly muster.  
“Right, is everybody here?” William asks. Riana narrows her eyes and everybody else looks around in confusion.  
“Where’s Kanaya?” Karkat asks cautiously.  
“I’m right here.” B Kanaya says and Karkat A (their Karkat) shakes his head.  
“No, I mean, my Kanaya.” William bites his lip, tears beginning to form in his eyes once more.  
“That’s one of the reasons I gathered you all here.” He takes in a shaky breath and goes to deliver the horrendous news. He points towards both Jade and Jane, “They both killed her.” His voice cracks and sobs arise from the crowd.  
“William, are you quite sure about that?” His head snaps up at her voice and he swings around.

Jade wings extend from a black Sylph outfit, fluttering to keep her afloat. The space symbol emblazoned on her chest, and black, fanged lips turn up into a friendly smile, and William nearly collapses to his knees.  
“Kanaya, y-you’re alive?”  
“Yes William, your observation is quite correct…” And he leaps and wraps his arms around her middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GA: And I Am Here To Slap A Bitch
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> this next chapter is going to hurt. my heart hurts just thinking about it


	50. 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (hehehehehehehehehehehehe)

I watch as William grasps onto an ascended Kanaya like a toddler to its mother, and he cried like one too! Ha! But the question on my mind was, why was she God Tier?  
“William, it’s alright, I am alive after all, it was your act that saved me. So I thank you.” She rubs his back and William slowly begins to let go of her, tears falling down his cheeks in rivers.  
“But… how?” He asks through sobs.  
“It is my belief that it was these strange stardust glitches, they interfered with the game somehow. Perhaps we shouldn’t be scolding them of their presence." And then a second voice is raised.  
“Wuh oh, looks like I have to go. I was wondering when it’d come again. Bye…” I turn around and John had just disappeared in a fuzz of blue, leaving Jade on the ground, still rubbing her head.  
“Fuck.” She says and stands back up. I turn around again, but this time to Jane, she seems a bit dumbstruck that Kanaya is here, let me guess, she’s the one who stabbed her? And again I turn, this time to Karkat and Raine, who are still staring, horrified, in my direction. I roll my eyes and turn away, they’ll get over it, eventually, they’ll have to, or I’ll force them. 

“Sooo, Kanaya. How’s it feel to finally reach your highest level, leaving behind the rest of this non-ascended scum as well and joining the rest of us immortals?” I ask in a snarky tone of voice.  
“Hey!” I hear a chorus of people shouting simultaneously, obviously those who had not ascended yet, but all they receive from me is a snicker.  
“Shut your face you traitorous scum.” Is all she says and gives me the most evil glare, it almost makes me quiver. Almost.  
“So would someone please like to inform me what the fuck is going on here?” Dirk asks, I had almost forgotten his and Alec’s arrival.  
“I think that is what most of us would like to have knowledge of.” B Kanaya crosses her arms; she’s glaring intensely at Jane, but talking to everybody else. That’s when I notice B Karkat is hiding behind B Kanaya, and slowly retreating into the forest behind him.  
“Well,” William starts, after wiping the last of his tears from his eyes, “I was planning on informing you all, firstly, that Kanaya was, well, we don’t need to talk about that anymore. But the second thing is, well it’s pretty obvious. We need to do something about you three.” He points to me, Jade and Jane, my eyes form slits as a hiss escapes my lips. The same with a growl from Jade, and just a blank expression from Jane, followed by a simple ‘hmph.’

“What do you mean ‘do something about us’? Is it your plan to kill us or something? Like you tried to do to me earlier?” Jade says, obviously feeling good enough to snap.  
“No. I’m not going to kill you. Not anymore. Yes, that was my original intention, but it was because I was absorbed in a fit of rage. But, firstly, there’s one thing I want from you, Jade.”  
“And what is that?” Her eyes narrow and her lips curl up into a snarl. I roll my eyes and, just before William answers, I answer for him.  
“What are you, a fucking idiot? He wants the mothergrub back obviously. Jeez how fucking dumb can you get?” William looks at me, while Jade growls deep in her throat.  
“Th-the mothergrub?” B Kanaya says in an astonished tone.  
“Yes, we were able to successfully hatch the mothergrub from our universe.” Other Kanaya informs her.  
“But, how, may I ask?”  
“I do not understand, you should have full knowledge on how. You are an alternate version of me, after all.”  
“Of course I am aware, just ours was destroyed, if similar events occurred in your universe, how come the mothergrub survived?”  
“I’ll answer this. Because she was smart enough to hide away the matriorb before Eridan mcDouchefins could destroy it. Not that that’s very smart at all, it’s just common knowledge, still mother fucking amazing how she could think of that, with such a tiny fucking think pan.” I smirk, this time I can hear Kanaya A growl.  
“Excuse me?” Kanaya B asks.  
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, you’re not the one I’m insulting.” I lift my eyebrows once, and she looks from me to the Kanaya behind me, then narrows her eyes as a look of realisation washes over her face.  
“Oh.” Is all she says.  
“Okay, I’m still all up and confused, why’s Kan-sis got her God Fairy on? And why’s Tig-Ri got her evil on?” Gamzee speaks up for the first time, and following shortly after,  
“I’m just as confused as you man. Ri, why you gotten evil all a sudden?” Ben asks, his head cocked to the side. All I do is smirk and give him the simplest answer I can come up with.  
“Because reasons.” Ah how I love saying that, just to see the confused looks on people faces.  
“Anyway,” William drags out, rolling his eyes, “Riana is correct, I want to know where the mothergrub is. I made a promise and I intend on keeping it. Now where is she?” He crosses his arms, tapping his finger on his bicep.  
“Isn’t it obvious? It is obviously in HIC’s hands now. and there’s nothing you can do about it. Now I’m out of here, I have a thing to finish with Dave.”  
“What.” We hear Dirk say before Jade disappears.  
“Oh, no you don’t.” William says shaking his head and snapping his fingers. And then Jade is once again in front of us, snarling intensely. But before I can witness what happens next, someone is tugging at my shoulder and pulling me back behind the crowd. I snap my head around to find Karkat staring at me, I can see the worry deepen when I snarl.  
“What the fuck are you doing?!” I snap and he flinches, and I can see him bite the inside of his bottom lip.  
“Why is this happening?” He asks softly, tears had begun to flood his eyes again.  
“Stop fucking crying would you? It’s very wimpy.” Ouch, I can tell that hurt.  
“it’s just that… what did they do to you?”  
“That’s none of your fucking business now let me go.”  
“It’s all of my business. I need you to be okay. You are my Matesprit after all.” Fuck, he used that card?  
“I cannot believe this. You still consider us Matesprits? Ha! What a fucking joke!” And with that I could just see his heart break, his jaw drops agape, the tears finally fall down his cheek and I can feel his entire body shake…

_No, that isn’t right_

What? What the fuck was that? That was… No, it couldn’t be. I shake my head, returning to the conversation at hand, and I could tell Karkat was trying oh so terribly hard not to fall to his knees. That really did not look like the Karkat I know.  
“I… No. that isn’t you speaking. She’s gotten into your head. Fuck her. I’ll fucking kill her for messing with you like this.” He bites his lip so hard I begin to see red form under his teeth. He grips my arm tighter and hiss through my teeth, that was the same arm Jane was gripping and now there’s a fucking bruise. “Shit.” He says and loosens his grip just a bit, enough for me to be able to escape it. I storm away from him, leaving him somewhat heartbroken, I can tell he’s still trying to convince himself that it wasn’t me speaking. Ha!

But instead Raine grabs my shoulders and gives me a firm shaking.  
“Riana, what is going on? I need to know. And you’re going to tell me. Now.”  
“Wow, you’ve been hanging around Equius way too long, you’ve become too demanding.”  
“Tell me now, Riana. I’m not letting you go until you do.”  
“Oh, really? We’ll just see about…” I shove my hands into her gut, falling into a crouch and throwing myself forwards, rolling under her legs and making her let go. “That.” I finish with a smirk and walk back to the other group.

Until a giant hand lays on my shoulder.

“How about you explain to me, why you just tackled my Matesprit?” Equius asks, and I swallow a lump in my throat. He’s only being gentle, but the pressure on my shoulder is immense, and if he doesn’t let go soon it’s going to break.  
“Ow, fuck, let me go, ow, fuck, fuck.” I say instinctually.  
“Are you going to give me an answer, or are you just going to wait until I break every bone in your weak human body?”  
“Equius, please let her go.” Karkat’s voice rises from behind.  
“Wait, fuck, Equius is here? Equius is fucking _alive_?!” B Karkat shouts from behind a tree.  
“Nobody asked for your input, fuckass.” Karkat A states.  
“Shut your trap, nookwhiff.”  
“Taintchafe.”  
“Bulgelicker.”  
“Shithole.”  
“Fuckass.”  
“I’ve already said that, asswipe.”  
“Fuck you.”  
“I’m sure you’d like to.”  
“You’re disgusting you windsock headed shitmouth.”  
“That only works when you’re looking in a mirror.”  
“That’s basically what I’m doing, fuckwit.”  
“ Oh my fucking GOD I cannot BELIEVE you two! I… ow fuck! Equius let me fucking go!” I finally interject.  
“Now, Equius, I’ve already asked nicely, can you let her go, please?” Karkat A says firmly, but still politely. Wow he’s changed since, well, since Karkat B.  
“Equius, it’s not like she hurt me or anything. It’s fine, you don’t need to hold her captive.” Raine says, smiling and rubbing the back of her head.  
“Only if she promises never to plan anything like that again.”  
“Depends…” I start but he tightens his grip ever so slightly, “ow, ow, ow, okay, okay I give, I give. I won’t tackle her again just, FUCK let me go.” He finally releases his grip and I fall to my knees, rubbing my shoulder. I get up and walk away before anybody else can stop me.

“FINE! If you’re just gonna keep sending me back here I might as well get something done. ” Jade shout angrily, a snarl still turned up on her face. “We don’t need more than one of each troll here, that isn’t necessary!”  
“What?” I hear Jamie say first, then followed by Eva, and soon the rest of them. Jade spins around and points a finger in my direction. “Kill him.” She says, and a puzzled look crosses my face until I realise who she means. “The other one’s already died once, that’s more than enough for him to understand. But we don’t need the other one.”  
“But…”  
“They are direct orders from Her Imperious Condescension herself. Can you really afford to disobey her?” Shit, she’s got me there. I take a breath and sigh, taking Caledfwlsh from my sylladex I turn to face the others, my eyes running over each individual until they finally land on my target. Caledfwlsh is nicely weighted in my hand, not too heavy, not too light, but I wouldn’t call it perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, no one ever makes perfect decisions. I know for certain that I’m not perfect, never have been, never will be. This becomes all too clear after I make the worst decision of my life. But it’s too late now, too late to return the pooling red blood at my feet, too late to stop myself from penetrating grey flesh. 

Too late to stop myself from killing Karkat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaand cliffhanger!!!! 
> 
> I told you it would hurt, didn't i? i warned you.
> 
> Okay so there's a possibility i won't be updating for a while, i'll be doing something else with these OC's that may or may not include Dangan Ronpa ([hehehehe](http://archiveofourown.org/works/925388/chapters/1799947)) and i thought this was a perfect time to stop. >:D
> 
> you'll just have to wait and see what happens.
> 
> *evil laughter trailing off into the distance*
> 
> (EDIT: wow i just read through this, turns out it didn't hurt as much as i intended it to.)


	51. 51

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> turns out i can't not update

"Riana no!" Jamie, Eva, Vriska, Kanaya, William, Alec... everybody screams. All i can see is the pain in his eyes, the hurt the disappointment the _betrayal_ , and all of that is blurred by my own tears. I drop Caledfwlsh, and he falls down with it, the light disappearing from his eyes and the blood draining from his middle. What have i done? Oh god...

_This isn't right, this just isn't right nonononono!_

That voice inside me... it's growing stronger i can't... i can't believe i. The tears run down my face and i try to stop them but i can't, i just can't anymore. I can't stop myself from falling to my knees, on my hands. I can't stop myself from screaming. I sob endlessly, the tears falling from my cheeks and onto his forehead, if this were a fairytale, he would wake up now. But this isn't a fairytale, this is very very real. I put my forehead to his, squeezing my eyes shut as tight as they would go, my shoulder shuddering with sobs that i can't stop.  
"I'm sorry." Is all i manage to choke out before my crying becomes audible again. 

Every muscle in my body shudders until i just can't hold myself up anymore and i fall down next to him, my head buried into the ground. I spin over so my hands rest on his bloody chest, and the only words that could process through my head were, _it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault. Everything is my fault._ The pain in my chest is so strong, i feel as though i'm going to be sick, but nothing comes but another scream. " I'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry!" I keep chanting, because that's all i can really say. Why can't i fix this? Why can't i help him? _Why did i have to do this_? I'm such a fool, such a failure, i'm a disgrace, i couldn't even keep my promise that i wouldn't hurt him. I manage to find my knees and put my forehead to his again, and then kiss his cheek. I bring his head to my chest and just hug him, whispering 'i'm sorry' in his ear and crying into his hair, i don't even care that i'm getting blood all over my outfit. 

"Agh. How sappy. Just get over it. He's dead, there's nothing you can do about it. It's the price that comes with being evil." Jade says, rolling her eyes, a deep, deep growl escapes my throat, it's one that could only come from an animal. And i guess that's all i really am now.  
"Shut up! You don't get a say in this! you don't _get_ to order me around anymore. This is your fault as much as it is mine. And i'm going to fucking kill you and the fucking Condesce. Mark my fucking words, bitch." Oh how that was so acceptable, and following that is another growl, almost as deep as my previous one. 

And then i'm being hugged from behind.

Arms take me from the shoulder, gently lowering Karkat back to the ground and holding me tight. I spin around in his arms and wrap my arms around his middle, crying into his chest.  
"Sh, it'll be okay. You'll be okay. Don't cry. We'll get through this." Alec pats the back of my head and paps my arm, and i can slowly feel the rage begin to seep out of me. My ears droop, and i begin to lose control over my body, falling into him. "Shh. It's alright. You're alright. come on, don't be sad." He holds me up and keeps his arms tight around me, and i watch as my skin begins flushing from grey to white to grey and back again. "Shhh."  
"I'm sorry." I say into his chest. And soon, my skin returns to its normal pale colour, and i can finally say what i've been busting to say. "This isn't right." After a moment, he lets me go, but still keeps his hand on my shoulders, and he smiles. "I'm sorry." I say again and he shakes his head.  
"You don't need to be sorry." I take in a deep shaky breath and turn to my dead Matesprit, and nearly burst into tears all over again. But instead i manage to hold myself together, taking caledfwlsh from where it lay, and heading right towards Jade.

But all she does is smile and click her tongue.  
"I don't think so." She holds her hand out, palm forwards, and two figures appear, one shorter than the other.  
"What the fuck?" Dave says.  
"Dave, instead of fighting me, you can fight her."  
"No way. I'm not fighting no on..."  
"Dave?" And here comes Dirk.  
"B-bro?" I take this chance and leap at Jade, something close to a roar escaping my lips. She shakes her head and grabs the smaller figure, Vagabond. Dave's head flicks back to her and he shouts,  
"Not the Mayor!" And whips his own Caledfwlsh from his sylladex, countering my attack.  
"Dave, i wasn't going to hit Vagabond, now fucking move."  
"How can you be so sure? Do you have any practice in swordsmanship...?" But he's cut off by William.  
"Jamie, what are you doing?" I spin around and see sort of a sad smile on Jamie's face, and she's looking at Karkat.  
"I can fix this."  
"What?!" I shout and completely ditch the thought of taking on Jade and Dave Jade.  
"Y-yeah." She takes in a deep breath and kneels down next to Karkat's dead body, putting her fingers in his wounds and shutting her eyes. I watch as she bites her lip hard, and a gasp escapes her when the wound on Karkat's body begins to heal, even though the blood still remains. I can see Jamie is trying incredibly hard not to cry out, but why? Soon, Karkat's eyes begin to flutter open, and he blinks twice. Jamie pulls her hands back and clutches them to her gut when Karkat sits up. I nearly scream in pleasure.

And i probably would have if i didn't notice the blood beginning to seep through Jamie's fingers.

"Wait, what? What's going on?" Karkat asks.  
"Jamie... what did you do?" I ask, astonished. All she does is smile and say,  
"Don't worry." And falls to the ground, her hands falling from her middle to reveal a gaping hole in her middle.  
"Jamie!" I shout and run towards her, captchaloguing Caledfwlsh and skidding to my knees in front of her. I check for a pulse, and can't find one. "Jamie!" I shout again, along with most everyone else from our session.  
"what happened?" Sollux asks... i wonder if he even knew Karkat died?  
"Jamie, what did you do?" William asks, but i shake my head.  
"She... she sacrificed her own to save Karkat's... this is all my fault... _again_!"  
"Will somebody please tell me what the fuck is going on here?" Karkat A asks.  
"Jamie..." Eva trails off, tears flooding her eyes.  
" Argh. We needed her." Jade moans and i spin around and hiss at her.  
" _You_ keep your fucking nose _out of this_! This has nothing to do with _you_!"  
" Well, actually it does. This was all just a waste of time."  
" _what the fuck are you talking about_?! Are you saying Jamie is just a _waste_?!"  
" Not her in particular. just everything about this. Jane. if you will. " Jane gives a firm nod and holds her hand above her head. A small ball of blue and white light begins to form just above her palm, and then she throws her arm forwards, creating a beam which stretches out to Jamie, engulfing her and lifting her above the ground. And when it all disappears, Jamie sits up, eyes blinking.  
"Ouch." she says and everybody gasps.  
"Y-you're alive..." Eva says.  
"Y-yeah." She looks at her hands and then towards Jane. "Thanks, i guess."  
"Mm." 

After a few minutes of astonishment, i finally turn to Karkat and nearly break down in tears again.  
"Karkat. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I-I had no self-control. You know i would never mean to hurt you. I just wish i could take it all back. I wish i could have done something to stop this, I..."  
"Hey." And then he has his lips pressed against mine. After a moment he pulls back, leaving me speechless. "I'm just glad you're back, 'kay?" A smile cracks onto my lips, and tears of joy fill my eyes.  
"What. The fuck." Both Karkat A and i moan when B Karkat speaks up, then flip him the bird. "Oh, fuck you. Fuck the both of you."  
"Not today, fuckass." And i finally, once today, i laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did you really think i'd let either of them die?


	52. 52

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shit i don't even know what this chapter is, i literally could not think of ANYTHING to write about except this garbage. that's why it's so short. bluh

I wipe a forming tear from my eye, B Karkat glaring at the both of us, in the end he just throws his arms in the air and storms away.   
"Yeah. Whatever. You have your happy little reunion, i have better things to do than watch sloppy makeouts. I'll deal with you dorks later." Jade rolls her eyes then looks straight at William. "And don't _you_ even try to stop me." And with a click of her fingers, her, Dave and Vagabond disappear and William shakes his head, not even bothering to stop her. Nearly every pair of eyes in the crowd blink a few times,  
"So, what was that all about?" Aradia speaks up for the first time. Nobody has time to answer before i'm making a request,  
"Sorry to leave so suddenly, but William, don't you think there is something we should be doing?" He looks at me quizzically for a moment, before understanding.  
"Right." He holds his palm forwards towards me, and i'm soon wrapped in a blanket of darkness.

I arrive at the door of one of Derse's cells, easily opening it (as it locks from the outside, not the inside) and startling it's inhabitant.  
"Come on Roxy, we're getting out of here."  
"Wow, what happened to you?" She asks fluttering her eyelashes in somewhat confusion.   
"How about we don't talk about that. Now come on, i'm breaking you out of this joint and saving wuss of a friend."  
"But i can't?"  
"And why not?"  
"Because blue sock boy needs to come back."  
"Blue sock boy...? Oh, i think you mean John."  
"Yeah, that dude."  
"So that's where he went. Why do you need to wait for him to come back?"  
"Because he promised he'd bring back a magical ring. One that'll bring my best friend back to life."  
"Your best friend?"  
"It's a long story. Anyways, you should go rescue Jake, i think he'd be in a bit more of a pickle than me. I'm fine here. Trying to conjure this space egg."  
"well, okay. If you insist. I'll go break Jake out..." I pause at the door, my eye twitching and my fingers lingering over the door handle. I hit my head on the door as i push the handle down, and just as i suspected, it doesn't open. "Shit. Shit. FUCK." I pound my fist on the door and moan, why the hell am i so STUPID. I forgot to keep the door open so it would stay unlocked, and now i'm trapped in here too. "well, fuck." I say before flicking my shades from my sylladex.

wakingDragons [WD] began pestering friendlySubjugator [FS]

WD: uh, William?   
FS: is everything alright?    
WD: um, not really.   
FS: what happened, are you okay?   
WD: oh yeah i'm fine.    
WD: except for maybe drowning in embarrassment.   
FS: what did you do?   
WD: i kind of accidentally locked myself in prison.    
FS: how the hell did you manage that?    
WD: i forgot to keep the door open. And it locked behind me.    
FS: i'm sorry but that is really funny.    
WD: look can you just get your ass over here and let me out?   
FS: sorry, i got my own stuff to deal with.   
WD: oh come on! I've been gone for all of two minutes you can't have THAT much on your plate!    
FS: a lot can happen in two minutes.   
WD: bullshit!   
WD: now get your ass here and get me out of here!   
FS: byyyyye. 

friendlySubjugator [FS] ceased pestering wakingDragons [WD]

WD: William!  
WD: this is what i get for being evil for, like, three hours.   
WD: that wasn't even my fault!   
WD: goddamn you Spencer. 

I repeatedly slam my head against the door and moan out loud.   
"Welp." is all Roxy says, i slide down onto my knees and almost start laughing and crying at my situation. But i have enough self-control now to restrain myself, instead i just sigh.   
"Now what the hell am i supposed to do?"   
"Aren't you a windy player? Can't you turn to wind as well and escape out the window?"  
"No, that's only John. It's an Heir thingy." I sigh and sit cross-legged on the ground. A few minutes pass in silence, we both sit on the ground doing nothing, and about half hour passes, i had almost fallen asleep, and Roxy had tried endlessly to conjure the Matriorb, to no avail. Only succeeding in making crossbreeds of it. Another few minutes drift by, and suddenly there's a cool wind drifting through the air, turning into a blue figure, which soon turns into a human form.  
"Hey Roxy i'm back..." and then he notices me, i give a small wave and duck my head. "Um, why are you here? And why aren't you evil anymore?"  
"It's a long story. But, could you possibly do me a favour?"  
"I guess?"  
"Could you maybe, go around and unlock the door? I kind of accidentally locked myself in here.  
"Oh, sure." He turns to wind again and travels out the window, and within a few seconds i hear the door unlocking. I immediately stand up and head towards it, passing John on the way out.  
"I'll catch you's both later, i gotta go rescue the hopeless Page." I say and then take off into the air and towards the other tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *vomits*


	53. 53

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not being inactive for the past nineteen days, but i've had no inspiration, that is until a couple of days ago when i came up with an idea...  
> anyway, have a chapter.
> 
> in other news
> 
> OH MY GOD ARANEA NO 
> 
> ( _I AM NOT LETTING THIS HAPPEN NONONONO_ )
> 
> ((and also i apologise if you get random links throughout the chapter??? because for some reason my computer's been doing that to me, and i'm not sure if it shows up for anybody else??? it only started today i got no idea what it is... just don't click them if they do show up because they're ads.))

Everybody disappears from LOFAF with a wave of William's hand, other than the two Kanaya's and B Karkat. The two beta trolls look at William and Kanaya in shock, and Karkat is the one to speak up.  
"So what the fuck just happened?"  
"I believe the more important question is, why is there alternate versions of us here?" B Kanaya asks. "And, how exactly have i... by that i mean you... ascended? I would assume that your dreamself was obliterated too, so how exactly is it possible?"  
"It's my understanding that these so-called 'stardust glitches' are the cause."  
"That explains shit all." Karkat crosses his arms and glares at the two opposite him.  
"Simply put, Kanaya here was... _stabbed_ by Jane, i took her to my quest bed in hope that _this_ ," he gestures to Kanaya, floating a few centimetres above the ground, her jade wings flapping every couple of seconds to keep her aloft, "might happen. I took off to go find Jade and Jane, engulfed in rage i wanted to get revenge. Shenanigans occured and the next time i saw her again was, well, now."  
"So... tell me exactly why you were... killed, dare i say?" Kanaya asks.  
"Jade had stolen the Matriorb... Oh shit i still have to get that back, god fucking _damn_ it!" William shouts and just as he was about to be swallowed up by darkness a hand lies on his shoulder.  
"I'm coming with you." He looks from Kanaya to the other two before nodding, and the two of them disappear.

They arrive on Derse, and William probably would have thought of something poetic to think such as 'surrounded by an elegant city of purple' if not for the fact that they could not see the purple, because they were blinded by a bright light. They both shield their eyes and squint towards the source, four people float around a large bright sphere, and it seems somebody else is emerged within the orb. They fly off towards it, a trail of sparkling jade behind them as Kanaya's wings flap effortlessly. William shakes his head and turns back towards their destination before Kanaya could notice he was staring at her in awe, he could feel his cheeks begin to burn. They find themselves next to Riana who stares at the sphere with a confused look, and, when she finally notices the two, turns towards them, her eyes lit up. But she soon frowns and says,  
"I fucking hate you." before turning back to the orb, he guessed he deserved that, even though he knew she didn't mean it. Kanaya simply scowls, but doesn't say a thing.  
"So, what is this?" William asks.  
"It's Jake, something's happening..." But before she could finish her sentence, she's interrupted by Jake booming voice, shouting some nonsense. That's when William notices who the fourth figure is, and his eyes widen slightly.  
"What's she doing here...?" He trails off, and the other two look to where he is pointing.  
"wait... is that _Aranea_?" Riana shouts. The said troll must have heard as she spins around to face them, her own confused look on her face. They're interrupted by Jade shouting something at the sphere, and evidently Jake, before spreading her arms out. The whole planet underneath them turns green and is transported away, before another takes its place.

Gallons of lava flow down into the lake below, steam rising up almost as high as they are. The mansion towers up to the sky, passing where the gates would have been, wobbling slightly with the wind. A few seconds pass before Jade shouts out,  
"Oh my god stop powering up already!" but Aranea interjects with,  
"Don't listen to her Jake! Continue powering up for as long as you like. You're doing wonderfully!" A deep growl emerges from Jade's throat, a snarl turning up on her lips. She beings to say something else, but is interrupted with Jake's nonsensical wisdom, they only hear her finish with,  
"THE GREEN SUN!" Soon she's engulfed in a ball of green which grows and grows until it matches the size of the hope field, colliding and making the two types of matter intertwine. But what Jade didn't expect is that it would only feed the hope sphere. 

It soon overpowers her, as she shouts out profanities and 'this can't be happening', and soon she herself is covered with the white hope. She's sent down, skipping across the lava that had filled the lake, and hits the ground opposite, creating a trench. The grey soon fades from her skin, her unconscious body lying there but her chest slowly rising and falling, showing that she was still alive. William, Riana and Kanaya all watch in confusion as this all unfolds, and Jane begins to shout out to Jake, something about their future daughter or something. They were too far away for them to properly hear, all they caught is Aranea saying,  
"So i am so very sorry." A thunderous _crack_ bellows as the mansion begins to shudder and break from their foundations. The three... actually _four_ of them watch in shock horror as it makes it's way across the lake, casting a shadow over where Jade lay unconscious on the ground.  
" _No!_ " Riana shouts, she doesn't care that Jade made her hurt her friends, she doesn't care that she cause a lot of corruption, she was still a living being and she _did not deserve to be killed._ She also knew that if she were to die right now, it would be a just death. She had to do something. So she leaps forwards just as the tower being to fall, flying towards Jade and reaching her hand forwards. " _ **Jade!**_ " She shouts. 

If only she'd acted quicker. If only William thought to use his powers to save her. 

But hoping isn't going to change the fact that they couldn't save her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> attempting to get over the fact of that update (and failing tremendously) i have started up a fanventure for this fic. the art's crappy, i'm sorry, but if you're interested it's [here](http://mspfanventures.com/?s=4224) if you want to check it out. A few things have changed though, you can probably guess them (and again i apologise for shitty art.)
> 
> And if Hussie doesn't fix Jade, i will. I will make her all better. I have a plan. I will fix my girl.
> 
> *EDIT*
> 
> bluh, that next chapter i had posted for about an hour is being moved to the second part, (which is [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/967689))
> 
> sorry for those of you who had already read it and are a bit confused D:  
> I am confusing sometimes


	54. 54

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahaha really cliche dialogue here.
> 
> and short chapter is really short

I stare at the two legs sticking out from under the building, gaping at them in shock. They don't even twitch, well why would they? All her nerves would have been crushed, not to mention her bones. I cover my mouth with my hand and close my eyes, i don't even care if she was considered 'evil', it wasn't even her fault. I squeeze my eyes shut as tight as they would go, but it doesn't stop the tears from coming. I pound my fist against the wall a number of times, before both hands fall to my side. I always thought that if she were to die, it would be heroic, not just. I can feel my hands ball into fists and my teeth clench, and instinctively i growl. I turn away from Jade's crushed corpse and look straight up towards the sky where Jake is still embedded within his hope field, and the other's float next to it. With a swift move of my hand, i fetch Caledfwlch from my sylladex and blast into the air, the sword raised above my head. A booming roar escapes my lips as i pass Kanaya, William and Jane, and head straight for Aranea. 

I swing the sword down in her direction, but she simply moves to the side and gives me a smug look. I shout out again as i swing once more, but again she simply moves to the side.  
"I. Will. Fucking. Kill. You!" I shout with every swing of the sword, but all she does is smirk and dodge. I stop after a few minutes, staring at her and panting, sweat rolling down my forehead.  
"Oh? Is that all? I was having fun." She says a frowns in a sarcastically sad sort of manner.  
"No, i'm just getting started." I captchalogue the sword and take the bazooka Alec gave me all those years ago, yeah, i've still got it. A shocked look passes over her face for a moment before returning to the same smug expression. Finally she takes her own weapon out, a blue sword, kind of like Vriska's FLARPing one or... Mindfang's sword, goddamn. I aim the bazooka in her direction, damn this thing is heavy, but before i can fire, someone puts their hand on the barrel.  
"Riana, that's enough."  
"William. _she fucking killed Jade don't tell me that's enough._ "  
"No, it'll be alright. I understand you're hurt, because i know you were really fond of her before she went grimbark. But it'll be all right." He smiles a bit. That didn't help at all. I captchalogue the bazooka and without thinking backhand him across the cheek.  
" _What the fuck is your problem?!_ " I shout at him, tears springing to my eyes again. "Jade is _dead_ , do you not understand that?! How can you say everything will be all right?! What is _wrong_ with you?!" I begin to pant in anger and frustration. It's true, when this whole thing was just a simple webcomic, Jade was always my favourite character. I swing back around to Aranea and point in her direction. "And don't think i'm done with you yet either!" I turn back to William who's rubbing his cheek and shakes his head.  
"It's not like you can kill me anyway." Aranea chimes, and a deep growl rumbles in my throat.  
"Shut _up_!" I shout and lunge at her, taking the sword once more. The two blades connect with a loud _clang_ , my whole body shakes with anger and my teeth are clenched so hard i swear they'll shatter at any given moment.  
"Riana! Stop it!." William shouts in a very authorative voice. But when i don't stop swiping at Aranea, he grabs my hood and yanks me back, i hiss loudly at him but all he does his roll his eyes. "I told you, it'll be all right. Jade will be fine."  
"She's _dead_! She's not going be 'fine'!" He closes his eyes and snaps his fingers, and suddenly Alec appears next to us.  
"What the fuck..." He starts before William interrupts.  
"Keep her at bay, she's being stubborn."  
" _I'm_ being stubborn?! All i want is fucking revenge! You wanted revenge when Kanaya died, didn't you?!"  
"Yeah, that's true. I can't deny that. But she's fine now, and so will be Jade." I roar in frustration and go to swing my fist at him, but Alec stops me and takes me from William. I watch as he flies away down next to Jane who gives him a strangely sad look, and nods. I raise an eyebrow at them but i have no other choce but to watch. He raises his hand and the fallen building is covered in black, and begins to rise. He raises his second hand and it's thrown into the air, completely disappearing. 

"Okay." He says and Jane nods again, holding her arm out and a blue light begins to surround her hand, and after a few moments she throws her arm down, a huge beam streching down towards Jade, engulfing her body and rising about a metre off of the ground. Another few moments pass and the beam breaks off, Janes hand returning to her side and both William and Jane fly down towards her.  
"Let me go." I say in shock, but Alec doesn't comply. It takes me a moment to remember he's actually deaf and wouldn't be able to hear me. So i eventually struggle out of his grip and follow the two down, Alec right behind me. I land right next to her and stare at her in hopeful anticipation. Slowly, the lines around her eyes begin to twitch as she closes them tighter, and slowly opens them, her body completely uncrushed. She moans and moves around a bit, and a smile lights up my face.  
"It... worked." I say and wipe the rest of the tears from my eyes. "You brought her back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm bringing Jadey back.


	55. 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this is a wild chapter idek what i did

But happy moments like these never last forever. My smile turns upside down as her lips turn into a snarl, the skin beneath her nose twitches slightly before a rumble rattles in her throat.  
"J-Jade...?" I ask and raise my hand to give her shoulder a push, but her own snaps up and grasps around my wrist, tight. Slowly her skin begins to darken, and her eyes open at the same speed, a bright green ring around her pupils. I gulp and gasp as she grasps my wrist even tighter. The slight rumble in her throat grows louder until it's a full on growl, and her eyes snap all the way open. Both her eyes flick in my direction, and then she snaps her head up towards the sky where Aranea seems to be fighting somebody in puffy pants.  
"Somebody tell me what the fuck is going on here." Everybody's heads (except Alec's, but his soon follows after he notices everybody else) turn behind us. Dave floats in midair, his welsh sword in hand and his mouth slightly agape. I was about to answer but Jade stands up and bends my arm back so hard i can feel my elbow almost crack out of place.  
"Ow ow ow ow ow, Jade, that hurts ow ow." I say, biting my tongue.  
"Quiet you." This time Alec snarls and shoves Jade in the gut, making her stumble back and let go of me. I immediately pull my arm back and rub my elbow. I hear Jade growl again and holds out her hand, green beginning to flick around her hand, but Alec takes his gun from his side and points at her, finger close to pulling the trigger.  
"Yeah, i wouldn't if i were you."  
"Alec." I say and give him an intense stare, slightly shaking my head. But something else catches my eye, and i turn back to Dave. Two winged figures approach from behind him, one black and one white, both carrying swords.  
"Dave, i'd move if i were you." I say and he cocks an eyebrow before spinning around. He hits the ground just before PM and Jack swoop right where he was, landing behind him, both have menacing looks on their faces.  
"Oh, wow, what." Dave asks, partially confused. I take Caledfwlch from my sylladex again, walking up next to Dave and staring at the two. But they don't look back at me, but instead at Alec who's still pointing his gun at Jade, and Jane points her large fork at him, eyes in slits. And just like that, Jack leaps in Alec's direction, sword outstretched and a thunderous growl bellows from him. And of course, Alec doesn't notice. Before i'd even realised, i'd slammed into Jack with my shoulder, ow, fucking hard carapace shells fuck i forgot about that. It knocks him off course enough for him to not run into Alec, but also stuns me pretty bad, i managed to jar my neck in the process. He stops and glares at me, then leaps right at me, but i can't move. I close my eyes and expect to feel the blade running through me, but don't. Slowly i open my eyes and see Kanaya warding him off with her chainsaw, the revving awfully quiet than what i'm used to.  
"Nobody gets to lay a hand on my Kismesis but _me_. Understand?" But then there's a second roar, and we turn our heads to the side and PM also seems content on hurting somebody, but this time it's Kanaya. William suddenly appears in a flash of black next to Kanaya and in PM's way, holding his arms out with his hands crossed over one another. large black triangular like shapes appear out of nowhere and wrap themselves around Peregrine, and with that she disappears into thin air.  
"Bad dog." He says, smiling a bit at his stupid joke.  
"Uh, guuuys, i think we might have a problem." Alec says, finally lowering his gun.  
"What?" Nearly all of us say at once, but when we turn to see what he was looking at, our jaws drop. It seems _our_ Jack seems to have found an army, and army of his own selves.  
"Well... shit." William says and sighs. I manage to find my feet, and William helps me stand, there wasn't just two or three Jack's, no, there were at least _fifty_ of them. Jegus _fuck_ what'd we do to piss him off?  
"What, the fuck." Dave says, clenching his sword in hand, even Bec Noir looks somewhat startled. 

After assuring William i could stand by myself, he takes a step forwards and sighs.  
"This is gonna take a bit." He closes his eyes and holds his hands out. But just as he was about to summon his big triangle blanket thing, Alec puts a hand on his shoulder.  
"You know, you should let me try this time. I think i can take it." He smirks and looks towards him.  
"How will you by yourself beat them?"  
"Dude. I am the Prince of Doom. I can destroy with mother fuckin doom. And i've been practicing. Just watch." William takes a step back and nods, Alec smiling and pushing his shades further up his nose before rubbing his hands together and holding them out. "Prepare to be doomed, mother fuckers." he laughs. He spreads his fingers out so his index and thumb on opposite hands are about five inches apart, and a small black orb zaps around between his hands. He sticks his tongue out in concentration, it begins to increase in size, nearly touching his hands. He spreads his arms out wider and wider, and the orb keeps growing until he has to raise it above his head for it to keep growing. He holds it up with one hand, almost as wide and high as he is tall, black lighting crackling around it. I watch in fascination as it just keep growing, and my eyes widen when he rises into the air, higher and higher, and the orb soon engulfs him. Yet it still grows, larger and larger, and i can only just see him through the black field. He has both hands raised now and wow this is like something out of an anime or something. 

I pause in shock for a moment, before turning around; Jake is still in his own hope field, and Alec's doom field is almost clashing with it. Oh shit, that could be really catastrophic, even though Alec's is a lot smaller than Jake's, it could still be disastrous. Without even thinking i take off into the sky, what was i even going to do? How was i going to stop him? I can't shout out to him, he can't hear. I can't just enter the field, because that's just dumb i'll be doomed myself. I stop just at the edge of the dark field, i can hear the other's shouting up at me, but i ignore them, i need to think of something. And then it hits me, i just hope he's got them on.

wakingDragons [WD] began pestering redeyedHellmaker [RH]

WD: Alec you need to stop.  
WD: if you don't you'll clash with Jake's hope field.  
WD: you of all people should know how disastrous can be.  
RH: riana?  
RH: riana what are you doing move.  
WD: i will, just stop making your doomy sphere.  
RH: but ive nearly finished im almost there can you let me save the day for once?  
WD: Alec!

There's a loud zapping noise before both the dark and light matter mix and begins to erupt. Everything disappears in a flash of white as it finally explodes. And the next thing i know i've been covered in a wave of darkness and my eyes fly open. Oh, _fuck_.

//

William watches as everything is engulfed in flashes of light and dark, if they didn't move they'd be engulfed too.  
"We have to get out of here!" He shouts.  
"But, what should we do with Riana?" Kanaya asks and William shakes his head, biting his lip.  
"I'm afraid it's too late for her." He waves his hand and he, Kanaya, Jade, Jane and Dave all disappear further into the forest. He arrives right next to B Karkat and Kanaya and swipes them up too, before disappearing off the planet all together. He hates to leave Riana behind, he bites his lip extremely hard to keep himself from crying, he's sure Alec will be all right, but he doesn't what to think what might happen to her. All he can do is hope she'll be alright.


	56. Alec: have a flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec remembers one of his horrible days back on the meteor, how he deals with the voices in his head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, the most inconvenient time for a flashback. Alec you poor boy. ;_;

Alec lies on his bed, curled up into a ball, his head pounding from a hangover. Why the hell did he have to learn how to alchemise alchohol? Fuuuuck. His head pounds with the beating of his heart, but he guesses the best thing to deal with it is to keep still. His glasses are on his bedside table, just out of reach, and dang why did he have to leave the light on? It's so goddamn bright in here. He grips his blanket even tighter when a sharp pain shoots through his head, not just once, but four times. It was like somebody just whacked him with a hammer, and he can feel the bile rising in his throat. He manages to keep it down though, and turn onto his other side, every movement causing him more pain. Fuck. He bites his lip to stop tears of pain forming in his eyes, why did he have to drink so much whywhywhy?

Why does he ask such stupid questions?

The dark voices in his head have been growing. That's why. That's his only reason. He doesn't want anybody to worry about him and the voices anymore. He wants to be able to deal with them himself. And he was able to for the first couple of weeks, but then they grew too loud, and he figured the only way to suppress them was through this. By drowning them out. He thinks this is the only way to get rid of them, well, temporarily anyway, but he knows he can't just drink his prblems away. He knows that they won't stay away forever. He has to do something, something more permanent. What that is he still has no clue. 

After about an hour of just lying still and doing nothing, his pounding headache begins to die down, and he's able to get up and go to the bathroom, splashing his face with water and drinking handfuls of it. Where does it even come from anyway? The water, he means. There must be a way to be able to keep the water flowing. But he doesn't really care about that right now. He scrubs the sleep out of his eyes and quickly combs his hair, pulling on his day clothes to look more presentable, he guesses. Or at least to make it look like there's nothing wrong with him. He takes a deep breath sighs, he can already begin to hear the echoing of the voices.

Really, the scary part is that he doesn't know who's speaking them.

Okay, that's a lie, he has a fair idea, he just hopes he's wrong, it'd be quite terrifying if it really was the horrorterrors speaking to him. 

But, wouldn't they be too far away for them to be able to speak to him? God, who really knows anymore, he doesn't know anything about them, he never really was interested. He looks at his hands; how many people could he doom with them? How many people _has_ he doomed with them? Has even destroyed doom yet? What kind of Prince is he if he can't keep both destroying doom and destroying with doom equal? He sighs again and holds a single hand out, palm up. Maybe it'd just be better if he doomed himself, maybe he wouldn't need to face the voices anymore. _No_ , he thinks to himself. _No, i can still be of use. Maybe. Maybe one day i could be the hero. Instead of everybody else. Maybe one day i can finally save somebody_. He closes his eyes and a small, black orb begins to form just above the palm of his hand. 

He opens his eyes a slit, and the orb keeps growing until it engulfs his hand, it's really quite warm inside the orb. The orb continues to grow until it has engulfed him, and the sides of sphere is nearly touching the walls, the floor and the roof, but he keeps it from growing any further. Wow it's warm in here. 

**Prince**

And suddenly the orb breaks and disappears, leaving you lying on the ground, clasping at your head.

**Prince, stand.**

The only way he can describe the voices is a loud, deep rumbling echoing inside his head, not to mention painful.

**Prince, get up**

_shut up shut up shut up shut up!_ He shouts in his head, and he clutches his head even harder as he feels an extremely painful throbbing, like something is trying to push out of his skull. The darkness behind his eyelids begins to turn red and he squeezes them shut as tight as he can. He wants to scream, but he won't. He doesn't want anybody worrying about him. He can feel himself begin to pant as a cold sweat breaks out over his entire body, his breathing getting heavier, and soon he can barely breathe at all. His coughs and chokes fill the air, through the immense pain he begins to feel his head begin to spin and soon he feels as though he's on a roller coaster, going faster and faster. Then it's like it crashes, because everything goes black, and he finds himself passed out on the floor.

//

"Hey what'th wrong?" Alec's eyes open to find a bright landscape, too bright for his liking.   
"Aughgh, what happened?"  
"Come on, anthwer me."  
"Huh?" He looks up and squints, more brightness. "Argh." He says and sits up, he faces somebody with a bright yellow helmet and red and blue lenses.  
"What the fuck happened to you?"   
"I... don't know."  
"Are you athleep or dead, i should probably athk."  
"I think i'm still alive. I _hope_ i'm still alive. Where am i, anyway?"  
"You're in a dream bubble, of courthe." He holds out a gloved hand and Alec takes it, helping himself up.  
"Wait... You're..."  
"Mituna. Yeah, that'th right." his fanged lips turn up into a wide smile and holds out his hand again.   
"Yeah, i'm Alec." He shakes his hand then looks at him curiously. He seems more... _stable_ than the other Mituna he's met.  
"Nithe to meet you, Alec." That's when he notices that Mituna's wearing the same colour pattern as him, except in an heir uniform.   
"So, i'm taking it that you god tiered, huh?" he says, stating the obvious, and Mituna nods, smiling a friendly smile.  
"Yep. And it theemth you have too." Alec nods before rubbing his eyes. That's when he remembers what happened.  
"Aurgh, that's right." He mutters and Mituna cocks his head.  
"What?"  
"Voices. I'm sure you know about them, right?"  
"Augh, yeah, they're horrible."  
"Except, i don't think mine are the same as yours."  
"Mine went away after i god tiered. what'th yourth, then?"  
"I'm, not exactly sure. I think they might have something to do with the god damned horrorterrors." He shivers and crosses his arms.  
"Oh, i'm thorry to hear that."  
"It's alright, i can handle it." He lies.  
"Tuuunaaa!" somebody calls out from behind Mituna, clasping him from behind. "Who's this?" She asks puckering her lips and looking at Alec. He notices that both hers and his own glasses nearly match.   
"Thith ith Alec. He mutht be thleeping or thomething." he turns around and pecks her on the cheek, making Latula laugh.   
"So, you're a doom player too, huh? I'm sure you and Tuna will get along great!" Alec smiles and nods. Mituna says something but Alec doesn't quite understand as he turned away.  
"Huh?" He asks and Mituna turns back to him.  
"I thaid i'm sure we will, are you deaf?"  
"Yeah, actually."   
"okay. We know thomeone who'th deaf too, it'th all right."  
"Yeah, Meulin. She's actually the one who taught me how to lip read, and even some hand signals."  
"Oh, cool." Latula grins a toothy smile  
"I think we should go. We have one of Kankri'th fucking lectureth to get too. Argh."  
"Why do we even go? He's only blabbing on about silly bond stuff and triggers and whatnot. We've heard it all before."  
"Yeth, but we promithed, you know he worrieth when we're not there. And you know what happened latht time."  
"Ugh, don't remind me."  
"What happened last time?"  
"He thent out thith whole thearch party to find Meenah, cauthe she'th the one that didn't turn up."  
"I see."  
"Tho we will be going. Ath much ath i hate it."  
"Okay, maybe i'll see you later."  
"Yeah, maybe." Latula smiles and drapes her arms over Mituna's shoulders. They begin to walk off when Mituna stops and turns around.  
"Oh, and Alec? About thothe voithes, try meditating, it helpth."  
"Meditation? You, you used to meditate?" Alec asks, tilting his head to the side and Mituna nods.  
"Yeth, I know it thoundth weird but if you can focuth enough you can drown them out. At leatht it worked for me. I hope it workth for you too."  
"Okay, thanks."  
"It'th alright." And with that the two of them disappear, linking fingers as they do so. 

Alec walks around for a while, kicking some stones he finds lying around with his hands shoved in his pockets. He's got nothing else to do while waiting to wake up (well he hopes he's asleep) other than wander. Wander and wonder. Wonder about whether Mituna's advice would really work. He finds a shady corner under a tree and rests up against the base of it, taking his shades off and looking at the sun through the tree leaves. He tucks them into his pocket before curling his knees up to his chest and sighing, shutting his eyes. 

The next thing he realises is that he's waking up on his bathroom floor, a minor headache still looming in the back of his skull. He shakes his head and stands up, re-combing his hair as it became mussed when he fell. He pulls at the bottom of his shirt to flatten it out, and then return back to his bed, grabbing his shades of the stand and pushing them up the bridge of his nose. He looks around his bedroom floor and pulls a face, he really should clean all this mess up before somebody notices. Well, it's not like they will, the door's always locked. Again he sighs and begins collecting all the bottles and cans thrown around the room, stashing them all in his garbage bag before moving onto the clothes that litter the floor. He decides to have some fun with it and uses the laundry basket as a basketball hoop, but that becomes boring after, like, two seconds.

After about ten minutes the floor is nearly spotless, wow if he knew it was that easy he would never have complained when his mum and dad asked him to clean his room. Wow he never should have thought that thought, because it brings back memories of them, being a big happy family, and his chest hurts with the longing ache. He misses his family, he hasn't seen them in two and a half years. He bites his lip to stop himself from crying... well, what's really the point in bottling it up? nobody's going to see him. He wraps himself in his blanket before hiding his face under the pillows and letting the tears fall. He hasn't cried for quite some time. He didn't want to look like a weakling in front of everybody, especially the trolls. 

They probably wouldn't understand anyway, well, maybe Karkat would after losing Kanaya for a brief period of time. His entire body shudders with every sob, He throws his glasses off and onto the floor, they slide across the cold cement and hit the wall on the other side with a _clack_ , cracking one of the lenses slightly. After what feels like an hour of sobbing he finally brings his head out from under his blanket and rubs at his eyes, taking a few shaky breaths before getting out of bed. He'll need to cool down before he goes anywhere. 

**Prince.**

Oh god not again.

**Prince, you have yet to fulfill your role. You still must eliminate the Bard.**

He takes in a sharp breath and sits down on his bed, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. God he hopes this works. 

**Prince. Listen to us.**

He slows his breathing down, in out in out, trying to ignore the headache that's beginning to re-accumulate in his head. 

**Prince.**

He shakes his head slowly, thinking happier thoughts, happier times.

**You cannot ignore us.**

But he tries to do just that, not giving into the splintering voices.

**Bad things are going to happen.**

Nononononono ignoring.

**And you will be at fault. And then you will be the cause of corruption that follows.**

Shutupshutupshutupshutup.

**You will be the undoing of your companion.**

Ohgodohgodohgod just shut up and _go away already_. 

**Let this serve as a warning.**

_Please just go away and leave me alone i hate this i hate this i HATE THIS!_ He squeezes his eyes shut even tighter and pulls at his hair, so much for staying calm...

Wait.

They've stopped. 

They're gone.

He opens his eyes and slowly lowers his hands and laughs once. His headache is gone, not even an inkling of it left. And then he starts laugh manically, pushing his face into the pillow, muffling his giggles. He sits back up and covers his mouth so his laughs aren't so audible. And just like that he breaks down crying again, he's not quite sure what these are tears of, possibly tears of Joy. But all he cares about is that the voices that have been plaguing his mind ever since that accident are gone...

For now anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> trust me this chapter is not irrelevant. 
> 
> And Mituna was one who didn't go through 'the accident'. I like non-brain damaged Mituna. Okay i like Mituna all together.
> 
> Also, almost everybody from their timeline went God Tier


	57. 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how everybody else is doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more stalling...
> 
> well okay there is something rather important :o

A wavy line of green mist floats past Ben's face as he stares into the horizon, the pale green sun slowly sinking behind the darker green hills, the mint and blue sky swirling together. More squiggly mist runs past his face, he blows at them and they evaporate into nothing. The land of Notion and Movement truly is a mystical place. The ground begins to rumble under his feet and he rolls his eyes, not again. The dirt underneath him begins to crack, and he jumps to the side before it can open any further and swallow him up. The earth continues to shake and shudder, but soon dies down after a while, leaving humongous crevasses in the ground. His land tends to shift and shape itself a lot, and sometimes it poses quite the challenge. He came close to falling down one before. 

He jumps over the closest one and walks over to his towering house, Eridan floats up next to him with an annoyed expression on his face.  
"Wwhat the fuck is wwrong wwith your land?" He asks.  
"Nuthin." He sighs again and opens the door, shutting it in Eridan's face. He thought coming to the alpha session would be a lot of fun, but so far it's just been a big disappointment. Jade and Jane are nasty evil people now, that's something he really doesn't like. The room falls into complete silence as he falls own onto the couch, that's when he hears a strange crackling noise coming from his sylladex. He searches for the source and finally pulls out what looks like a wrist watch. He takes it and looks at it, clipping it on his wrist. The crackling continues to fill his ears, and that's when he remembers that this isn't a wrist watch at all. Two small speakers are attached to the sides of it, and a zodiac sign in the middle, how could he have mistaken this for a wrist watch oh shit oh shit oh _shit_. A crackling begins to turn into a voice, he tries to take the speaker off of his wrist but his fingers are shaking too much to be able to unbuckle it.

"Ben, it's time for you to join me again." Oh god no... his hand falls to his side and he slouches in the couch, shutting his eyes. Not moments later an insane smile rips on his lips and his eyes fly open, tainted with the colour of fuchsia. "Now come, my Bard."

//

Nic resides in his Land of Ire and Passages, there is nothing left to do but talk to these god forsaken consorts... and by 'talk' he means 'kill the mother fuckers because they're attacking me'. He takes his alchemised flail from his sylladex, also known as the MINOFLAIL, a cross between a statuette of a minotaur and his antique flail. The size of the spikes and the ball on the flail have increased dramatically, and the chain extends to also make it a long ranged weapon along with a short ranged one. He doesn't know what he did to piss the consorts off, they just started attacking him. He flogs one in the head, making it bleed all over the ground and knocking it unconscious, not dead but KO'd is good too. These fuckers are hard to kill. He throws his arm forwards, the chain extending and the other end flying high into the air, falling down onto a group of consorts with a bone wracking _thud_ , shaking the ground.  
"Jesus fuck you're just as bad as ED when it comes to consorts, you're not supposed to kill them." Solluxsprite says, hovering up to him.  
"It was never my intention to kill them, it is their own fault. They began attacking me first."  
"Just don't get me mixed up in this." He turns and floats away, his three heads bobbing up and down slightly. He looks towards the light purple and violet sky, it seems the strange indigo sun had begun to set. He wouldn't go inside just yet, he still had consorts to teach a lesson to.

//

"See, look, it's simple really. Just try again, i'm sure you'll get it this time!" Raine says, giving the bow back to Equius.  
"But you have observed plenty of times that it is fruitless, i just keep breaking them."  
"Just try for me one more time. Third time's the charm." She smiles. "I'm sure you'll get lucky this time. In fact you might say you will have aaaall the luck. All of it." She waggles her eyebrows and he shakes his head and smiles.  
"Okay, i shall try again." He gently takes the bow from Raine's hands, inhaling he equips an arrow and begins to pull the string back. Raine holds her hands behind her back and crosses her fingers, her smile growing ever wider as Equius pulls the string back further. There seems to be a lot of tension on the bow, but Raine knows that it won't snap, she won't let it. The arrow flies from the string and flies right through the small ball of light Raine had set up just before. Equius' jaw drops as it embeds itself in a tree almost three hundred metres away. "I did it."  
"See? I told you you could." She wraps her arms around his middle and rests her chin on his shoulder.  
"Thank you Raine."  
"But i didn't really do anything, you just need a bit of luck on your side." She winks and scores a chuckle from Equius.  
"I really am lucky." This time she laughs and pecks him on the cheek, and then the two of them head inside.

//

 

Aradia and Sollux both sit on the roof of the human hive, looking over the landscape which is blooming with colour and plant life. Aradia sighs and kicks at one of the vines that has grown up the side of the building, it's so _boring_ here. William shouldn't have sent them back here, she preferred it back on the other planet where there was at least some action.  
"Wow, this sucks." Sollux says, putting her mood into words.  
"My thoughts precisely."  
"What is there to do around here except to just sit here and doing nothing?" Aradia's face lights up as she grabs his wrist.  
"Come on, we're going to do a little exploring, it can't hurt, can it?" Sollux shakes his head and jumps off the roof, catching himself and the two of them fly off over the now flowery planet.

//

"I can bring people back to life." Jamie says, staring at her hands. "At the cost of my own, though." She lowers them to her lap, and then pats her stomach where the gaping hole once was. She clasps her fists in her lap and sighs, shaking her head. "Why would they need me so badly that they'd bring me back to life?" She flops down on her bed and hangs off the side, her long orange hair touching the wood of the bedroom floor. "Everybody needs me now, but nobody even paid me the slightest bit of attention before this all happened. Nobody even cared for me. Sigh." Still upside down, she rubs her face and the blood begins to rush to her head. "Not even my mum liked me. Or my dad. Or my sisters. Or even any of my so called 'real life friends.' Heck, the only people who even paid the slightest bit of attention to me were my three internet buddies. Hehe, how convenient. They say that internet friends aren't really your friends, but it turns out my 'fake friends' are the ones who care for me the most. And i'm monologuing to myself again. Jesus Christ." She sits back up and rubs her eyes, she hadn't realised there were tears in her eyes. 

She smiles softly and then looks at her hands again, opening and closing them. She closes her eyes for a moment and pictures the blood on her hands. Her whole family didn't just ignore her, they all hated her. Enough to be able to cut her out of their lives. It's all right, she hated them right back. It doesn't even matter anymore anyway, they're all dead. She can still see their blood on her hands, and it brings a smile to her face.

//

Gamzee and Vriska sit together in the shade of the tree, an arm has slung around Vrisks as she rests her head on his shoulders. She shivers, it's still quite cold out here.  
"Gamzee, what am i gonna do? Eva hates my guts, i never meant to hurt her."  
"I'm sure the mother fucker can all up and get her forgiving on. She can't stay mad at a sister like you forever. These mother fucking days you're hard to hate." She smiles up at him and he smiles his lazy grin back down.  
"I hope you're right. Thanks Gamz."  
"No need to get your thanking on, it's what a brother's here for." He holds out his middle and index finger, and Vriska smiles again, touching her own two fingers to his.

//

Eva lies in her bed, too stubborn to move. And too upset too. The sound of sobs fill the room, she still can't get over the fact that Vriska had felt that way for such a long time and never said anything. She cringes at the sick feeling in her stomach, how could she maker Eva like this? She hates it. And she's tried to convince herself that she hates her too.

But nothing's going to change the fact that she still loves her. Even if Vriska doesn't love her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually starting to like the ship Gamzee<>Vriska


	58. 58

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...  
> I...  
> I am so so sorry.

It burn it burns it burns oh how it burns. Who would have thought that it woul. I can't see anything but white and flashes of darkness, i can't feel anything but the immense burning, and i can't hear anything but the squealing in my head. A scream tears from my lips, i can't stop it i can't do anything but float here and wait for it to end. But it doesn't, it just keeps going and going and burning and i must be in hell. Every cell of my skin is embedded with immense pain, and i can feel tears begin to form in my eyes just to be blown away by the matter around me. I choke out another scream and i feel like i'm falling, falling down down but i'm not. I'm still floating. I can't move at all, i can't even _stop_ myself from floating. Time doesn't seem to be moving at all, i seem to be frozen in time but still able to feel this horrible, horrible pain. My mind becomes a mix of words and screams and i can't even form a straight sentence in my head anymore, only the one word screaming over and over in my head. It seems like hours, days weeks before something else is able to enter my consciousness, a name. Who's name? Who's even calling it?

"Riana!"

Who? What? I can't focus on anything anymore, reality becomes non-existent inside my head mind. "Riana!" I can't even grasp onto the fact that it's MY name that's being called. Everything is just one big painful blur. But through the white i see a figure coated in dark flames, their voice soon becomes nothing more than a jumble of words inside my head, i can't even make out what he's saying anymore. That's when i truly do begin to fall, the figure getting farther and farther away from me. 

And then there's nothing. I feel no more pain, i don't see white but only black as i fall down head first towards the ground. I don't even feel the wind blowing by me, or the arms that catch me just mere seconds before i hit the ground which i could not see. There was just nothing, and it felt like there never was and never would be ever again. But i could hear voices, soft, soft voices barely trickling into my consciousness. I can't hear what they were saying, they were only jumbled murmurs, and nothing else. They began to grow louder, and soon i could only just comprehend what they were saying.  
"Come on Riana, wake up. Wake up Riana i'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen, wake up _please_ Riana. Please. I'm begging you, Riana, just _wake up_!" And then there was sobbing, heart breaking sobbing, and i knew i just had to wake up. Everything was still black, i still couldn't move, i still couldn't do _anything_ , but i had to try.  
 _Come on, it's not that hard just wake up._ A voice says in my head... or is that me? I can't tell.  
"Riana come on!" I get the sensation of my body being jolted to the side, but yet i still can't feel anything.  
 _Wake up wake up come on_. 

But everything i try fails. I try lifting an arm but can't even move my fingers. Even moving my head to the side ends in failure. I just want to scream. I do scream, loudly inside my head, i can't move i can't feel anything i can't _do anything_. "Riana?" His voice oh god. It's shaky and cracks and he's sobbing. That's when i feel something warm touch my forehead, and then again. My eyes twitch just the slightest and yes i can do this _come on Riana you can do this_. I try once more to raise my arm but only get a twitch of my finger. My brows crease and uncreased on my forehead and my hand begins to shake with the effort of raising my arm. 

And then all of sudden there's a sharp pain running through my chest and my eyes fly open and i gasp in air.  
"Riana?!" I begin to choke and i'm able to turn onto my side and oh my god i can move again. I continue to cough and choke and... and my head begins to blur words again, i can't think straight a can't form a single sentence. My body begins to convulse and my back arches and fuck what the hell is going on. "Riana? Come on Riana, stop it." He shakes my shoulder and i begin to hyperventilate. I attempt to tell myself to breathe but no words form in my head. I turn back onto my back and look right up at Alec, he has tears pouring down his cheeks and has taken his glasses off, the pure shock and horror in his eyes is enough. It's enough to make me be able to focus somewhat. _Riana come on you're the Sylph of Breath, what good are you if you can't breathe yourself?_

And then i break out in tears, I don't know why all i know is i couldn't stop myself. Finally i manage to choke out a sentence through sobs and coughs, my mind still somewhat fuzzed.  
"H-help me." It's the only thing i could say.  
"Riana?"  
"H-help. I-I cna't this elp."  
"Riana? W-what?" My breathing begins to slow down, at least, but my body still shudders with uncontrollable sobs and my chest continues to feel as though it's being stabbed repeatedly.  
"Help me hlep me hepl me help me please, i cna't do this."  
"I- i don't understand Riana what..."  
"JUST KILL ME." i shout. I can't take it anymore. At least if i die i'd come back.  
"You can't expect me to..."  
"Help me please Alce! I cna't do thsi HELP just do it!" I barely have any control over my words anymore, they just come streaming out in a jumbled mess. "Alec please jsut kilill me i can't taek ths amynore just kill me just DO IT PLEASE ACLE I BEHIGGING YOU PLEASE." He shakes his head, the tears beginning to drip off of his chin and onto the ground right next to me.  
"I can't."  
"PLEASE."  
"I CAN'T!"  
"ALEC!" He takes me by the shoulders and brings me up to his chest and hugs me.  
"I can't Riana. I can't I can't." He hugs me harder and i pat him on the back gently, and he rubs mine. Slowly, slowly slowly the pain in my chest begins to die down and i can breathe just a little bit more, but my mind doesn't get any clearer. I still can't form any proper words. He pulls back from me and i look him in the eyes,  
"I'm sorory." I manage to get out and sob again.  
"No, i am. I'm sorry, this is my fault this all happened."  
"W... wha happended to all Jacgz."  
"The... the Jacks? I... i don't know."  
I look up to the sky; Jake's hope field was still burning, but the explosion had died down. All the Jacks were gone, probably disappeared to another timeline. Bec Noir was standing over near the fallen mansion, staring up at the two figures that were still floating in mid air. Brain ghost Dirk and Aranea.  
"Wah happenned to the others?"  
"I... i'm not sure."  
"Can we jus get outta herer thven?"  
"Okay..."  
"Oh, but where are you going? You wouldn't want to miss all the fun, would you?

Alec's eyes grow wide and i manage to turn around. Ben is floating in the air, red and white ball in hand with an insane smile on his lips, and his eyes are that condescending colour.  
"Ben." Alec says with a snarl beginning to curl on his lips. He carefully lets go of my shoulders and stands up, pulling his gun from his sylladex. If it's even possible, Ben smiles wider and laughs. But before much else could happen, another person arrives.  
"What in heaven's name is going on here?"  
"Rose?"

//

William and the others arrive on LOFAT where Karkat lies on the grass face down.  
"Uh, Karkat?" William asks and Karkat's head snaps up.  
"Huh?"  
"What are you doing?"  
"Uh... sleeping?"  
"On the grass."  
"Yes. Got a problem with that?" He sits up and starts to blush, scratching the back of his head. Then he suddenly pauses. "Where's Riana?" Both William and Kanaya look at each other and then back to him.  
"Well... Riana is... how do i put this..."  
"She's doomed that's what." Jade says, crossing her arms.  
"Indeed so" Jane speaks up finally.  
"Wh-what?" Karkat's eyes widen. "what do you mean doomed? What happened?" Nobody answers him. "Hey, tell me what the fuck happened!"  
"Her situation is a rather difficult one to explain, Karkat." Kanaya says, looking down.  
"Then take me to her so i can see."  
"I really don't think that's a good idea..." William says but Karkat cuts him off.  
" _Take me to her_."  
"Karkat, trust us on this, now is not the most suitable time to be visiting the planet, it's become a little more than chaotic." Kanaya crosses her arms and her wings flutter as she does so.  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean."  
"It's a long story." William shakes his head.  
"Fine then, just tell me the basics."  
"Let's just say the Page is discovering his potential."  
"Who's 'the Page'?"  
"You don't really need to know. Anyway, Jacks turned up and Alec decided he wanted to do it all himself this time, and he made this huge doomy orb which collided with the hope field and Riana sort of... got caught up in it." Karkat blinks repeatedly before shaking his head.  
"You have to take me to her."  
"But..."  
" _Please_." William bites his lip before sighing and nodding.  
"Fine. Kanaya, can you stay here and make sure the others don't get in trouble?"  
"Certainly." He nods again and eaves his arm, and Both him and Karkat disappear.

//

"Yes, that's right. And i'm assuming you're Riana?" I attempt to nod the best i can, and take Caledfwlch from my sylladex to help me stand up. "Are you all right?" I shake my head and nearly fall back down again, but manage to keep my feet. Ben tosses his ball on the ground and it explodes in a puff of white, clearing away to reveal... okay, what the fuck is that? It's unrecognisable, actually it looks like some pokemon cross goddamn _fiduspawn_ , actually i think that's exactly what it is. Before all the steam could even clear it had leapt at Alec. It wraps its weird tendrils around the barrel of the gun, crushing it almost instantly, and it drops from his hand.  
"Shit, what the fuck." He says and jumps back a little.  
"Could somebody please inform me on what is going on with the Bard?" Rose asks, kind of confused.  
"HIC gotto im aganin." I attempt to say but it falls out of my mouth with no order whatsoever. She blinks at me before shaking her head.  
"So he, along with Jade and Jane, have fallen into Her Imperious Condescension's hands?" I nod and squint, rubbing at my head to will the headache away. Something grows from the side of the creature, knife like arms or something. It leaps at Alec again but he takes a step to the side and easily avoids it, but still looking somewhat confused. 

There's suddenly a strange buzzing beside me, and then a flash of white then black, and two figures appear. The creature seems to notice too, as it turns to Karkat and William, knives pointing straight outward and leaps in Karkat's direction. A small scream tears from his lips and he closes his eyes and raises his arms. But it doesn't hit him, because with all the energy i had i shout, "Karkat, no!" and throw myself at him, knocking him out of the way and into William, and the last thing i feel is the creatures knives running through me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On another note YES, ARANEA DIE 8ITCH DIE MWAHAHAHAHAHA


	59. 59

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Headcanons  
> Recap  
> and long goddamn paragraphs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a lot longer than i expected it to be.

“God, it’s so boring here. Where even am I?” I ask myself while gazing upwards. There’s nothing but darkness, except the glowing path underneath my feet. How long have i been here? I don’t even remember, i can’t remember much at all except for continuous amounts of walking. I run my hand through my hair and over my ears and sigh, hopping on one leg then taking off into the air a few metres above the glowing path. It soon turns into a slight bend the further i fly along, circling around and down into a spiral. Far below i see a green figure and what looks like a stage. 

I land back on my feet and continue to walk downwards, keeping my eyes on the figure. I watch as they scramble onto the stage, and soon i can hear them talking.  
“Don’t come any closer! I am a very powerful magician! One who wants you to leave her alone! I swear, if you come any closer i will have to hurt you! I said don’t come any closer. PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE GIRL BEHIND THE CURTAIN.” I leap all the way down to the stage and cock my head to the side.  
“Hello?”  
“I SAID DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!”  
“It’s alright, i won’t hurt you. You can come out.”  
“Really?”  
“I promise.” She pokes half of her face out from behind the curtain and i gasp as i recognise the trollsona. “Callio-… Callie?”  
“Yes… how did you know?”  
“Long story.”  
“So… who are you?”  
“Oh, right. I’m Riana. Pleased to meet you.” I stick my hand out and she comes out from behind the curtain and jumps down from the ledge to shake my hand. She takes a few steps back and then slinks down against the bricks of the stage, her white eyes staring up at me.  
“So… are you sleeping or did you die?” I rub the back of my head and shrug,  
“I really don’t know. But knowing me, i probably died. Hehe. It really wouldn’t surprise me.” I sigh again and drop my arms down to my side, sitting down next to her. “So, how long have you been here?” She shrugs and looks down at the solid black ground.  
“I lost count of the days, i suppose it’s been quite a while now, anyway. What about you?”  
“I’m not sure but i think i only just got here, maybe a couple of hours ago. I just have no clue whether i’m dreaming or whether i actually did die. What happened to waking up in the dream bubbles? Do they still exist or did LE kill them all? I really don’t think that’s right, though. But still, if the dream bubbles are still a thing, why didn’t i wake up in them? Sorry, i’m just thinking out loud here.”  
“No, it’s perfectly all right, i miss company. I was so lonely here. You know, i can see if you are sleeping or awake, using some of my special majyyks. But, because of selfish reasons, i don’t exactly want to do that.”  
“Why?”  
“Because, if you are just sleeping, you’ll wake up, and i’ll be all alone again. Even the company of a complete stranger is better than no company at all.”  
“Oh, i see. Well, it’s fine, it’s not like i’m in a mad rush to go. I have always wanted to meet you.”  
“Me? But i’m not special.”  
“Yeah. You are, actually.”  
“How?”  
“You inspired a whole army of ghosts to come looking for you. If i can remember correctly, they thought you were the only one able to stop LE.”  
“LE?”  
“Lord English.”  
“Uh…”  
“Your brother.”  
“Oh. I guess i understand. But, that doesn’t really make me special…”  
“You’re in one of the two master classes in this game. A Muse, right?”  
“Yeah, but i’ still…”  
“And i know your friends think you’re special.”  
“My friends? Haven’t they forgot about me?”  
“Definitely not. In fact Roxy… Oh my god.”  
“What? Did something happen to her?” Her blank eyes seem to be full of extreme worry and desperation.  
“No, i’m pretty certain Roxy’s fine,” relief washes over her face and she breathes out a sigh of relief, “I just remembered something, is all. Roxy was trapped in Derse’s cell when John…”  
“Wait, Roxy is imprisoned?”  
“Yeah, i’m quite sure of that.”  
“Oh dear, why?”  
“Urgh, i’m not exactly sure. My memory hasn’t stretched that far, yet. Anyway, Roxy said something about John fetching a magical ring that’d bring her best friend back to life.”  
“But i thought Jane was her best friend.”  
“Well, as far as i can remember, Jane ain’t dead. In fact i’m pretty sure her only dead friend is you.”  
“She wants to bring me back to life?”  
“Of course. You’re her friend, who wouldn’t want a friend living again.”  
“Is that all you remember?”  
“That’s about it.”  
“So, Roxy is still imprisoned?”  
“I think so.” A few moment pass in silence before i speak up again. “You know, you don’t have to wear your trollsona, i know what you look like.” Her head snaps up.  
“Y-You do?”  
“Yeah. And before you put yourself down, i think you are a very pretty Cherub behind your mask.”  
“You even know my race?”  
“Yeah. I know a lot of things. Like i said, it’s a really long story.”  
“Well, okay. I’ll take your word for it. But, if it’s alright with you, I’d prefer to keep it on, i feel more comfortable.”  
“Yeah, that’s fine with me.” The minutes tick by in silence again, and this time it’s Calliope who breaks the silence.  
“So, you’re a Sylph?”  
“Yeah.”  
“That must be pretty interesting.”  
“Pff, hardly. It’s pretty boring, actually.”  
“Oh, i wouldn’t say that.”  
“Huh?”  
“I guess you haven’t discovered your full potential yet then, have you?”  
“Full… potential?” I bite my lip before cracking up laughing. “Oh my God, potential, ha! What a joke! The best i can do is stop people from choking on their food, ha!”  
“No, i don’t think you quite understand the Breath aspect.”  
“Hahaha… huh?”  
“Breath is actually a very interesting one.”  
“How so?”  
“I think you only believe that ‘Breath’ consists of only the nature of wind and, in your case, breathing. But it’s much more. So much more.”  
“How do you figure?”  
“Not only does Breath fall under wind, but also the aspect of freedom. And freedom creates a broad range of ideas. The ideas are endless. And you, as a Sylph, can heal these, right? But what i mean by ‘full potential’ is that you can help people see things in a whole other perception.”  
“How does Breath fall under that? Surely that’d be more of a Light thing?”  
“Yes, not only does it fall under Light, but Breath too. There are a lot of abilities shared between aspects. Say, a Witch of Mind and a Prince of Breath both may both be able to obtain some control over others, perhaps the Witch more than the Prince though. The Prince would destroy the freedom the person has over themselves, and can possibly will them to do what they want. Whereas the Witch could simply manipulate one’s mind and make them do what they want them to do. Or perhaps a Prince of Hope and a Prince of doom.” Haha Eridan and Alec, “one can destroy Hope while the other can destroy with Doom, therefore erasing a lot of hope, and in actuality, destroying it. Do you see what i’m trying to get at here?”  
“Yeah, i think so.” She takes a breath before continuing again into more similarities.

After she’d worn out all possible combinations, she goes back to her original point.  
“Now, what i was saying is that you have great potential, you just need to unlock it, is all.”  
“And, how am i supposed to unleash this potential?”  
“Practice, of course. While you’re here, you have all the time in the universe. If you’re dead, you have even more time.” She raises her arms in the air and smiles.  
“Huh, I really didn’t know there was so much to the Breath aspect. If i knew all this, i would have done a bit more practice on the way here. I wonder if John knows this. He could do a hell of a lot with the ‘freedom’ part of it.”  
“Yes, being an Heir, he’d have great potential, too.”  
“You know, this is all really interesting, i didn’t realise how enjoyable talking about this sort of stuff is. How much more do you know?”  
“I know a bit.” She smiles and i smile back, “but i think i’ve almost talked myself out. It’s been quite some time since i actually talked to someone in person.”  
“Yeah, i would think so. I mean, the only person who’s ever been around you in person is your brother. And even then he was asleep when you were awake, so that’d suck. But he’d just be an ass anyway.”  
“Yeah… but there is somebody else.”  
“Huh? Who?”  
“The Bard.”  
“Bard?”  
“I can’t remember his name. How horrible of me. He was kind. I can’t believe i forgot about him until now.”  
“The Bard… You mean Gamzee?”  
“Yes! That’s his name.”  
“You’ve met Gamzee?”  
“Of course, he raised me and my brother since we were small, of course he left when we could look after ourselves…” She sighs and rubs her eyes. “Wow, all this chit-chat is rather tiring. I think i’ve talked enough though. Say, i know you said it’s a long story, but, care to share how you know all this information about me and my brother?” I dip my head and laugh.  
“I guess i can take a shot at it.” I take breath before pulling my head back up. “Let me tell you about Homestuck.”

I spend the next half hour talking about what used to just be a webcomic, but then turned into… _this_. I explain everything from the day my sister introduced the comic to me, to up to where it ended, and then how this all started. How Alec and Raine were the first ones to die and ascend to God Tier. How Alec had an asthma attack and i felt so powerless to stop it, and then how he ascended. And then how i wouldn’t listen to Karkat who said my dreamself was dead so if i died on my quest bed i wouldn’t ascend but just die. How Alec saved my life and how i became part tiger. About the other four kids we met just before meeting Jack, and then how i died a second time. I talked about the meteor ride and everything that happened on it: the Matespritships, Moirallegiances, Auspisticeses and Kismesitudes. About Ben being Crocker conquered and both him and Gamzee going rogue. And then about arriving in the Alpha session, meeting the Beta and Alpha kids and how Jade and Jane became possessed. And then eventually how i became possessed myself. How Kanaya died and went God Tier. How i killed Karkat and how Jamie brought him back to life, but in the end sacrificing herself, and then how she was brought back to life. How Aranea resurrected herself and sped Jake’s Hopey powers up, and then how Jade was KO’d and Aranea killed her. The she was brought back to life, and my revengeful streak. Alec’s Doomy sphere meeting Jake’s hope field, how i was caught in the middle of it and lost my ability to speak and think straight, how i came on the verge of dying… and then how i did die.

“OH MY GOD I DID DIE, OH MY GOD _I DIED RIGHT IN FRONT OF KARKAT AND ALEC_ ” I shout as panic began to settle over me. I can almost feel my eyes turn to snow white and i clap my hand over my mouth. “Oh _shit_.”  
“Hey, i’m sure you’ll be alright, you said Jane can bring people back to life?”  
“Y-yeah…”  
“So, she can bring you back to life, right?”  
“I guess. But, i’m pretty sure they’d only bring the ones they need back to life. And if they needed me, i’m pretty sure she would have resurrected me by now.”  
“Oh. I’m sorry.”  
“Don’t be. I just hope William, Alec and Karkat are all right. And i hope Alec or Karkat or even William don’t blame themselves for this.” But knowing them, they will.


	60. 60

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sighs because remember when i used to update everyday?

**Prince.**

**Prince you didn't listen.**

**You were told that you would be the undoing of your companion.**

**You haven't learnt.**

**You will never learn.**

**And now bad things will happen because of your mistakes.**

**What do you say Prince, are you ready to make up for your mistakes?**

**Go dark, Prince.**

 

//

Vriska lets out a heaving sigh, resting her arm on her knees and leaning against Gamzee's back. She's been trying to push the thought of Eva out of her head for the past hour, trying to fool herself that she's beginning to get over her. But now, not only is the thought of her plaguing her mind, she also has this horrible feeling something bad is happening somewhere. And she hates not knowing what. She sighs again, and this time Gamzee follows suit.  
"I hate seein a sister like you down, and knowing i can't do mother fucking nothing to stop your hurtin."  
"It's alright, Gamzee. It's not your fault." She pulls her knees closer to her chest so she's able to rest her chin on her arm. He paps the back of her other hand and furrows his eyebrows.  
"Vris is there something else that's got itself all up and wrapped around your mother fucking thinkpan?" She can't believe how much he's grown, before he could barely even tell when she was down, and now he's able to tell that there is something else bothering her with just pap on her hand.   
"Yeah. there is."  
"Care to get your sharing on?"  
"I just have this nagging feeling that something bad is happening. Somewhere in this god forsaken session. And to somebody i care about too. I just don't know what."  
"That's mother fucking interesting, 'cause i've got that same mother fucker of a feeling."  
"Really?" He nods, his wild hair brushing up against the back of her hood.   
"And it's driving me nuts too." He looks at his hands, curling his long slim fingers into fists and then opening them again. His yellow nails have become fore like claws than anything, and if he looked really hard, he could still see olive and teal blood under them. No matter how hard he scrubbed he could never get them clean. Guilt begins to rise in his chest and he can feel tears sting at the corners of his eyes.   
"Gamzee. What's the matter?" Vriska asks, curling her fingers in his.   
"Memories. They hurt." He fails to keep a sob from escaping his lips and takes in a shaky breath. He hates the guilt. If he could take it all back he would. He feels arms wrap around him and a hand papping his shoulder.  
"Shh. 's all right Gamzee. Everything'll be fine. Shhhh." He takes another shaky breath but begins to calm down.   
"I think i need to go for a mother fucking walk. Clear my thinkpan and shit. You can come with if you want." he says, resting his head back on Vriska's shoulder.  
"It's all right. If ya need some alone time, i get that." He nods and Vriska lets him up.   
"I'll see you mother fucking later. And thanks, sis." He smiles and Vriska smiles back.  
"'s all right, Gamz." And with that he walks away.

Not a few minutes later Vriska takes off into the air after him. Can't have him wandering this foreign planet alone, even though he's grown he still has little sense of direction.

He's just a small speck on the dark blue ground, and her just a star in the cloudy night sky. She follows him for at least half an hour before he stops under one of this land's gates. He cranes his neck up towards it, and begins to make his way towards it. When he eventually gets through, it makes a small ringing noise, and Vriska follows him through.

But as he passes through the gate he begins to fall.

"Oh shit." She says before racing down and grabbing him under his arms.  
"Oh, hey sis. Thought you weren't mother fucking coming?"  
"Well, couldn't have you getting lost now could we... oh my god." She almost drops him again in shock at what she saw. She sets him down on the broken mansion, completely ignoring the sleeping figure who has her Dancestor in a strangle hold. "OH MY GOD." She shouts and blasts off away from Gamzee. He follows after her, almost as fast on the ground as she is in the air. He leaps onto one of the platforms, and then onto the next and then the third, his eyes widening in shock.   
"Holy mother fuck." he says as he approaches an alternate him, but his eyes are red as the lave below him. And then he notices who he's hanging on to.  
"Terezi?!" Vriska shouts. Gamzee looks up towards Vriska and her back down at him, and in that exchanged glance a plan had formulated in their minds. Gamzee lunges towards his hooded counterpart and slams into him before he could even get the chance to notice him.

Which left Terezi falling.

Vriska swoops down and catches her in her arms just before she could hit the lava.   
"Terezi!" She lands on one of the other platforms and puts Terezi on her feet.   
"V-Vriska?" Vriska rips the scarf from her eyes and then gasps.  
"Oh my god." tears begin to well up in her own eyes. Terezi stares at her, in complete shock, her healed eyes seeing her scourge sister for the first time in sweeps.  
"Terezi i'm so sorry!" She shouts, and then pulls her towards her in a hug, leaving Terezi even more clueless. "I'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."  
"Vris...ka...?"   
"I'm so incredibly sorry."   
"I..." teal tears begin to fall down her cheeks and she hugs her back.  
"No, i'm the sorry one."  
"You have nothing to be sorry for. No matter how many times i say it, it won't make anything better."  
"But..."  
"Shut up idiot. Just shut up. You don't understand. Everything i've done to you, everything i could have done..."  
"Vriska i killed you!" Her eyes fling open, her mouth slightly agape.  
"What?"  
"I killed you! So don't you tell me i have nothing to be sorry for."  
"I..."  
"Shut up. Just please shut up for once in your life." Vriska's eyes flick over to the battle going on between the two Gamzees, and by the look of things, evil Gamzee is winning.  
"Oh shit. Oh shit Terezi i'm sorry. I have to go save my Moirail before he gets killed by himself." She forces herself to pull away from Terezi, blood now stained her Thief outfit but she leaps over to the next platform and continues running, leaving Terezi in shock.  
"Moirail?"

Vriska lunges at B Gamzee, but even with her luck she wasn't able to get a decent hit on him. In fact it was quite the opposite. He grabbed her wrist right out of the air and sent her flying along the platform floor. She pushed herself up and rubbed at her nose, which had begun to bleed, and was about to lunge at him again when she noticed Terezi's cane-sword by her side.  
"HEY. No mother fucker does that to my Moirail. NO MOTHER FUCKER. NOT EVEN ALTERNATE MOTHER FUCKING ME." He swings his fist and hits him square in the jaw. Vriska reaches for the cane and grasps it, but before much else could happen there is an explosion of black from behind her, and she swings around the see huge black tentacle like swirls emerging from the forest.   
"What the...?" And then her head snaps up as a dark shadow crosses the land, covered by glitchy patches of air. She realises that it's actually all around her, but her biggest concern was who was on that ship. Waves of hair flick around the tall, slender figure, a look on her face that would haunt wigglers everywhere. Her jaw drops again."  
"Oh shiiiiiiiit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS GAMZEE IS THE ONLY GAMZEE I'M LIKING RIGHT NOW. THIS GAMZEE'S LEARNT. SAME AS VRISKA. I like this Vriska. I like this Gamzee. I don't even care how OOC it is.


	61. 61

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiatus no no no now what the hell am I supposed to do??????
> 
> Also, i'm not sure how this chapter really sounds... it kind of sounded strange when i wrote it so yea apologies if you find it shitty.

_It's my fault. It's always my fault. Whenever she gets hurt it's my fault. Why do i have to be such a mess? Why do i always screw things up?_

**Go dark, Prince.**

_I can never get anything right. I'm such a failure. It'd be better if i just didn't exist. I'm always the one to blame. It's always my fault._

**Prince. Your time has come. Prince. Go dark.**

Alec falls to his knees right next to Riana's lifeless body, clutching at his hair and tears streaming down his face.   
"Riana... No..." Karkat trails off, his eyes wide and staring down at her. Streams of red begin to flow down his cheeks and he drops to the ground next to Alec.   
“She just…” Rose starts but trails off. “And she’s…” She tries again, but the words stick in her throat. 

**Prince. It is time. We warned you. And now you will suffer the consequences.**

**Rise up Prince. Rise up and go dark.**

The voices in his head keep growing louder and louder until he can no longer hear any outside noises. He finds himself overwhelmed with anger, his hands clutching tighter and tighter at his hair until he almost rips it out. But this doesn’t even seep into his consciousness. He can feel his skin begin to tingle and darkness clouds his mind, black tentacle-like flames begin to engulf him, flicking around his feet and he drops his hands from his head. “Oh… no.” Rose says, her eyes growing even wider. Karkat stands up and swallows thickly, shaking tremendously.  
“A-Alec… what the fuck is going on?” His voice trembles with stifled sobs. Rose looks towards him, and then down at Riana, and finally at William who is staring at both Riana and Alec in shock, unable to move. Her eyes flick back to Karkat,  
“Karkat, i need you to take her and get as far away as you can. I can deal with your friend,” she whips her head towards William, “and i expect that you can take care of him.” She flicks her head toward Ben. William looks up at Rose and gives a slight nod before swallowing his tears and taking his axe back out from his sylladex. 

Alec moans in agony as the voices begin to scream in his head, louder and louder until he can no longer comprehend anything from the outside world. Shaking his head, Karkat grabs Riana’s body and hoists her up on his back, unable to keep the sobs from escaping his lips. He awkwardly takes off into the forest, and away from the others.  
The flames that have engulfed Alec begin to increase, and Rose sweeps her eyes across the ground in thought of what to do. Furrowing her eyebrows, she takes him by the shoulders, but immediately pulls back as the all-too familiar possessive feeling of the Horrorterrors shoots through her. Okay, so moving him isn’t an option. It probably would have been extremely difficult anyway because of the fact that he’s at least three years older than her, and a lot heavier. Again she furrows her eyebrows in thought; by now William had teleported both Ben and himself away from them.

They appear on the broken platform of Jade’s mansion, and before Ben could even get time to fully reappear, William lunges at him with his axe held above his head. The strange creature that had killed Riana leaps at him, and William slams the axe down with all his might, managing to split the creature right in half, and then takes off towards Ben again.  
“Well, this is an interesting dilemma we have here, isn’t it?” Aranea asks, crossing her arms and smirking.   
“I’m coming for you next. So watch out.”  
“Oh, i wouldn’t be so sure. Your friend there seems to be working for HIC, is he not?”  
“Shut up. This is your fault as much as it is hers. Just… Shut up.” Only now do the tears begin to flow from his eyes. His eyebrows furrow and his lips turn up into a snarl. “This is all your and HIC’s fault. I’m going to kill the both of you. I swear.”  
“Tsk, tsk. How naïve. Well, you won’t be doing that any time soon. Goodnight, boys.”  
“What…?” Before he could finish his sentence, both Ben and William hit the ground, unconscious. Not moments later, Aranea’s eyes flick over to the near horizon, black, tentacle like flames begin to grow out from the forest, which soon becomes even darker as a humongous shadow passes over them. She snaps her head up to see a glorious, red ship carrying Her Imperious Condescension herself.   
“Oh crap.” She looks over to where the mansion had fallen into the lava, all four figures are staring up at the humongous ship in shock, a look of dread on each of their faces, (well, except for Beta Gamzee who was still hell bent on knocking his alternate and Vriska out.)

Vriska’s entire body goes numb with horror as the giant vessel makes its way overhead, but soon shakes out of it. Spreading her wings, she takes off towards her Moirail, grabbing his hand and pulling him along with her, and then grabs Terezi. Somehow, she manages to hold onto them both long enough to shoot past Aranea and the two sleeping boys and into the woods behind them. Once she thinks they’re well enough hidden, she sets them both carefully to the ground and flops down.   
“Shit.” Is all she says, shielding her eyes from the sun as she gazes up towards the ship. “Shit shit shit.”   
“You can say that again, sis.” Gamzee says, sounding only the least bit terrified. Terezi’s head snaps towards Gamzee and her eyes widen as she takes a step back.  
“Y… you…” she stutters. He turns towards her and has to bite his lip as guilt begins to creep through him.   
“I’m sorry, Terezi.”  
“Why are you… wait what?”  
“I know you’re from a different mother fucking timeline and shit, but i need to all up and get my apologising on. Even if you ain’t the same mother fucking Terezi, I’m sorry.”  
“You’re… sorry?” He looks down at his hands again and sighs, closing his eyes.  
“Yeah.” She takes another step back then shakes her head.  
“You’re not sorry. You’re never sorry. You don’t understand how much pain i’ve been through because of you… how much I regret. It’s your fault i’m like this… it’s your fault i loathe myself so much. You sent me in a downward spiral of self-hate and all you can say is _sorry_? You can’t just say ‘sorry’ and expect everything will be all right! I…”  
“Terezi. Please. Be quiet. He’s not the same Gamzee as before. He’s changed. Can’t you tell that he’s at least _trying_ to make up for what he’s done? He regrets everything he’s done. He’s trying extremely hard not to just walk away and never come back… he hates everything he’s supposed to be. He’s sorry for killing you and everybody else and…”  
“Wait… He killed me?” Gamzee nods slowly.  
“I’m so mother fucking sorry. I don’t expect you to all up and get your forgiveness on. It ain’t something that i can change just by saying mother fucking sorry. If there were something that i could do to change all this shit, i would. But i can’t. So the best i can mother fucking do is say my apologies. I’m so mother fucking sorry, Terezi.” He looks up into her healed eyes, tears beginning to rim his eyes.   
“I… I can’t believe it… You… you actually mean it, don’t you? I… I don’t see how the Gamzee from my universe can be so different to you…” She looks towards Vriska who’s staring back up at her. “You changed him… didn’t you?” A slight smiles twitches on Vriska’s lips and a small laugh escapes her.  
“I guess. But, he’s not the only one that’s changed. I’ve changed too. I know i used to be reckless… and i know i’ve done bad things… but i’ve put that all behind me now. I’m trying to be a better person. And, Terezi… I can tell you’ve changed too, haven’t you?” She looks taken aback for a moment before she realises the fact that she has changed. Perhaps more than she would like to admit.   
“Yeah.”  
“Well, i think we’ve had enough of this emotional chit-chat. I brought us over here so we’d be out of HIC’s way. God knows what shit’s about to go down over there.” The other two nod and sit down next to Vriska, watching the red ship slowly descend.

//

“Why do i get this horrible feeling that something bad is happening to one of them right now?” I ask and Callie shrugs. I sigh loudly and close my eyes, sitting cross-legged on the ground and furrowing my eyebrows. “What am I going to do?” I rub my eyes and rest my head against the bricks behind me.   
“You could always start your practices now…”  
“Yeah, but _how_? There’s not really anybody to practice on, and even then how would i go about it…?” before i could finish my sentence, we both hear footsteps approaching. I snap my eyes open and stand up, Callie following shortly after. I sweep my eyes across the perimeter but see nobody, a snarl begins to curl up on my lips as i curl my hands into fists and ready them just in case.  
“Who’s there?” I shout, more aggressively than intended. I don’t get an answer, but the footsteps grow louder. My eyes narrow and an unintentional growl escapes my throat, “I said who the hell is there?” still no answer. “Answer me goddammit!” a ‘hm’ echoes throughout the darkness, and i raise an eyebrow to the familiarity.   
“Is, somebody there?” I hear them ask, coming from above.   
“Oh my god, William, is that you?!” I shout out to him.   
“Riana? Where are you?”  
“Down here!” Not moments later i see a figure flying towards us, a long, black hood trailing behind him. But he doesn’t stop, instead he runs right into me and hugs me. “Oh shit William that hurts, ouch. C’mon, let go.” He lowers me to the ground and stares at my blank eyes.   
“I-I-I…” He stutters as tears begin to fall down his cheeks.   
“Hey, stop that. No tears. None of that here. Shit, come on William. Stop crying. Oh, geez.” I roll my eyes, which is probably quite pointless, and grab his arm. I take him over to the stage and introduce him to Calliope.   
“Callie, this is William. He’s one of the people i was talking about before- for god’s sake dude, stop looking so pathetic. It’s embarrassing.” I look towards William who’s still crying rivers and shake my head.   
“Um, it’s nice to meet you, William.” She holds out a hand and looks at him with curiosity.   
“C-Calliope?” He sniffs and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. He stretches his other hand out to shake hers, and then smiles.   
“Good. Now after you’ve settled down, we need to talk.” I say to him and he nods and takes a deep breath, flopping down against the bricks. He rubs his eyes again and sniffs, rubbing the back of his head. 

A few minutes pass and i sigh, “are you done yet?” he slowly nods. “Good.” I flop down next to him and Callie sits down next to me. “Okay, first thing’s first. Why are you here?”  
“W-what do you mean?”  
“You’re only sleeping, right?”  
“I-I think so.”  
“Good. Now secondly. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SLEEPING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?” He flinches at my sudden aggressive attitude then sighs,  
“I don’t know?” I literally smack my face.   
“If you fainted i’m gonna be hella embarrassed.”  
“I don’t faint.”  
“Yeah, whatevs.” He chuckles a bit and i give him a quizzical look. “What’s so funny?”  
“You always used to say that. That’s the first time in, like, three years i’ve heard you say it.”  
“What even ever. I don’t care. Now, how about we sweep through the possibilities of why you’re asleep, and ways you need to _wake the fuck up_ …”  
“Why do i need to wake up so soon?”  
“You’re needed.”  
“So are you.”  
“But i’m _dead_ , I’m not needed anymore.”  
“No, you don’t understand. Karkat’s a wreck, Rose is trying to calm Alec down and… well there’s something terribly wrong with Alec.”  
“What? What’s wrong with him?”  
“H-he’s, uh…”  
“Come on spit it out.”  
“I think the Horrorterrors caught up with him.”  
“Huh?”  
“The voices in his head…”  
“He told me they were the voices of the doomed prophets.” He shakes his head.  
“Apparently not.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean anyway?”  
“It’s, kinda hard to say. It’s not something i want to think about…”  
“Come on, just tell me.”  
“I think you could figure it out yourself.”   
“For fucks sake…” then all of a sudden it hits me. “The idiot’s gone grimdark, hasn’t he?” He nods solemnly.   
“But it’s not like when it happened to Rose… nor is it like Jade’s ‘grimbark.’ I think it’s something different. But, like i said, i don’t want to talk about it.” I nod slightly then look at the ground. Minutes pass in silence before i break it,  
“You need to get Jane to revive me.”  
“yeah, but what if she can’t be convinced?”  
“Then, change her back to normal.”  
“What? How am i supposed to do that?”  
“It’s really not that complex, if you think about it. Just take the thing off her head.”  
“Huh, i didn’t think of that. But i need to wake up first.” I look towards Callie who’s staring at the both of us.  
“You said you could have woken me up if i were only sleeping… would it be possible for you to wake him up? Please?” She looks up at me and nods.   
“Sure.” She stands up and faces William for a moment, before throwing some stardust or something in his face. Both me and William look at her in shock, William trying to blink the dust out of his eyes. And then in a white flash he disappears.   
“Okay.” I say, blinking rapidly. I shake my head and close my eyes. “I think i’m ready to start practice. You have any ideas on how i might go about it?” She smiles.  
“I don’t really know… I suppose just, try? Practice makes perfect.” I nod and close my eyes once more, and just think about breath as freedom. Whatever that’s supposed to mean. I sigh again and hold out my hands, twiddling my fingers and concentrating. I suppose there IS nothing left to do than just try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is now officially over 100 000 we made it kids


	62. 62

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry about the lateness. I've just been procrastinating a lot lately. and then there was exams and augh. But now i've finished school for the year, and maybe (no promises) updates will become a it more regular. I've also been working on my fanventures too and that's basically what's been occupying my time i am so sorry.

"I wonder what's happening with the others?" Raine asks, sitting next to Equius on her bed, who looks at his folded hands in his lap. He simply shrugs. Raine looks at him curiously before shaking it off. If there were something wrong, he'd tell her. She flops back lazily against the wall, staring up the ceiling and sighing. She glances out the window and watches the disco-like lights dancing around her house. They're peaceful, but hypnotic. Then her eyes flick towards her computer and she raises an eyebrow as she gets an idea to fill in the time. As she grabs her laptop, Equius clears his throat and Raine turns towards him, his mouth agape as if he were about to say something. But nothing is said. She looks at him quizzically but goes back to retrieving her laptop.

After opening the lid and turning it on, she hits the firefox tab and, miraculously, is granted internet. Both her eyebrows raise in astonishment as she switches to the Google homepage. Her fingers flick aound the keyboard like an expert with years of experience, typing one word. 'Homestuck.' Opening the first link, she stares at the beginning panel and blinks repeatedly and, again, raises an eyebrow. "So, this must be that John Egbert guy. Right." Scanning over the introduction, she shakes her head. "Why on Earth is he only getting his name now? Wasn't he named when he was born? I don't even..."

"'Zoosmell pooplord,' what?" She shakes her head at the ridiculousness. "What kind of a last name is 'Egbert' anyway?" Equius clears his throat again and this time manages to speak.  
"I need to, um, talk to you, Raine."  
"Why was that so hard to say?" She turns to him and smiles, but Equius avoids eye contact. Dropping her smile she asks, "what's wrong?"  
"I... There's been something on my mind which I would... Like to discuss."  
"Yeah?"  
"I, um... I don't want to hurt you, but, I... Oh fiddlesticks, this shouldn't be so hard to express."  
"Equius, what is it?"  
"I... I don't think I can be your Matesprit anymore." She stares at him, a mix of emotions running through her. Sadness and disappointment, and maybe even a little anger. But mainly it's relief. The relationship wasn't really working out anyway, but she didn't want to be the one to break it to him. "I'm sorry, but..."  
"No, it's okay. I understand."  
"But..."  
"Equius, it's all right, really. I've kind of been feeling the same way, for quite some time now." She rubs the backof her head and smiles, relief washing over his face.   
"Well, that certainly went a lot better than i had planned." She nods and turns back to her computer, an awkward silence tensing in the air. She distracts herself by reading more of this ridiculous comic, Equius curiously peering over her shoulder. "What, may i ask, is that?"  
"This strange comic Riana seemed to be addicted to before, like, three years ago. You know, before all this happened." Se waves her arms in the air to emphasize her point. "Apparently it has you trolls in it." This time Equius raises an eyebrow.   
"Really?" She nods and clicks the 'view all pages' button. After hitting ctrl+f she types in 'act five,' apparently that's the act the trolls are introduced. "Is... is that mister Vantas?" He asks and Raine nods slowly.  
"Yeah... I think that's Karkat."  
"Intriguing." They spend the next half hour skipping over the comic, Equius turning away, clenching his fists and biting back tears when it shows panels of Nepeta. 

Raine shakes her head and closes the lid, sighing. "I'm going to go for a walk, maybe find out what Riana and that are up to."  
"That's fine. Just don't get yourself hurt."  
"I'll be fine, thanks."  
"I shall see you soon." She nods and put her laptop up and heads out the door. Taking off into the sky, she easily finds her way towards the second gate which would normally leads to Riana's land. But instead, when she passed through it, she's led to a planet full of green forests and a nearby volcano. She ascends higher in the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun and scanning the area. There seems to be something of a fight down below, on top of platforms in the middle of lava, of all places. But as she was about to head down to investigate; she notices something in the distance, a red ship of sorts.   
"What the hell?" She swiftly flies off towards it. Her analysis was right, within mere seconds, the figure turns into a gigantic red ship, piloted by a tall looking troll with gigantic horns and adorned in fuchsia. She wears an excessive amount of jewellery, and fins protrude from the side of her face. She takes notice that her hair seems to have never been cut, which she pulls a face at. "How the hell would you even brush that?" She whispers to herself before flying up and landing on the roof of the ship. Good, she thinks to herself, she hasn't been noticed. That's when she notices that this adult troll loos extremely pissed off. She scrunches her eyebrows at the troll, she seems familiar. Not as if she'd seen her before, but because she's been described to her before. That's when it hits her.

This was the troll that the others had been telling her about. The one that controlled Ben. This was The Condesce.

She takes a step back after this realisation and nearly falls off the roof. She taps her chin in thought; maybe if she could take her out now, she wouldn't cause any trouble. But if she really was as powerful as Raine had been told she was, could she really rely on mere luck to defeat her? Well, she is the Maid of light, which could be translated to mean she is _made of luck_ , she'd have all the luck. All of it. She might as well give it a shot, even if she's killed, she'd just come back to life, right? Wow that thought was really melancholy. Nevertheless, she smoothly hovers down to the ship’s deck, taking her Fishy Excalilight (she still can’t get over how dumb that sounds) from her sylladex and creeping towards the troll. Her eyes flick over to the jungle not too far away; black, tentacle like matter is rising from the trees, making her pull a confused face. 

“What are you doing on my ship?!” Raine’s head snaps back towards the Condesce and her eyes widen in shock. In her befuddlement she’d drawn attention to herself with heavy footsteps. The angry snarl on her face showing just how pissed off she really is.  
“Gulp.” The Condesce’s fists clench by her side an angry snarl turned up on her fuchsia lips as she takes a step towards Raine, who takes a retreating step back. If she’s going to do something, she’d have to do it now. Leaping into the air, she slices her sword downward, releasing the electrified blade of water. But it’s easily batted aside by a swing of HIC’s trident. Well, this wasn’t going to work. She captchalogues the sword and instead holds a gigantic ball of light in front of her. _I really need to learn more tricks_ She thinks to herself whilst throwing the searing ball towards HIC.  
“Raine! What are you doing?! Get away!” A familiar voice shouts behind her. She swings around to see Eva floating just above the roof of the ship, hands clutched to her head in panic. And then she points behind Raine, “watch out!” Raine swings back around to see a trident bursting the ball of light and heading straight towards her. There was no time to move, but with her luck she might just be able to…

She plucks the trident right out of the air.

She hears Eva breathe a huge sigh of relief, and then hears her shout again.   
“Get out of there! You’re underestimating her power! Move!” But she doesn’t listen but instead plummets straight towards HIC with the trident in hand. She’s suddenly jerked backwards, making her release the trident and it clatters next to the Condesce’s feet. Raine turns her head to see Eva pulling on her head, a vicious expression on her face. “I am in no mood for this. Get away now.”  
“What are you doing here?”  
“I needed to clear my head. And I can ask you the same question but there’s no time for that. She’s much more powerful than you can understand.” She releases Raines hood, but as soon as she does, her eyes shoot open and she covers her head.  
“Huh?” She swings back around to see the trident again, and this time she has not time to grab it from the air, all she can do is hope that it will miss her. 

But the next thing she feels is the end prong sliding through her. Yet she doesn’t fall to the ground dead, it seems it missed both her heart and her lungs, and any other vital organs. She slowly descends to the ground and falls into a crouch, pulling out the trident and clutching at her wound.  
“Shit.” She says and presses on it, making her wince.   
“Raine! Are you alright?!”  
“No, I’m fine. I just had a goddamn trident run through me. I’m feeling fantastic.” Instinctively, Eva rolls her eyes and then freezes. A flash of green appears next to the Condesce, engulfing a figure a little more than half the size of her.   
“You called?” Jade says with her own pissed off look on her face.  
“Deal with them.” HIC demands and Jade gives a single nod.   
“O-oh god. Raine. I’m sorry… I-I promise I’ll be back, don’t die on me, okay?” Eva says and Raine coughs in response. She takes off towards the sky as fast as she can, a loud growl rumbles through Jade as she disappears again. But before Raine could observe any more, she falls onto the ground unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I'm ditching the ships i don't like.


	63. 63

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so horrible at this whole updating thing I am so sorry.

“I got it!” I shout after sitting in silence for the last ten minutes. A smile spreads on Callie’s lips and she asks,  
“And?”  
“I know what I can do. Like you mentioned before, Breath symbolises freedom. And me being a Sylph, I can heal that. So in actual fact, a ‘Sylph of Breath’ can mean ‘healer of freedom.’” My eyes light up as I realise what this means. She nods slowly, her grin growing ever wider when she understands.  
“That’s right! I knew you’d be able to think of something.”  
“Thanks Callie.”  
“There’s no need to be thanking me, you thought of it all yourself.” I shake my head and laugh, then get back to practice.

//

William awakens, shrouded in a large shadow. He rubs his eyes and then shakes his head, remembering what he had to do. Slowly standing up he catches sight of Aranea, and scowls before internally slapping himself. _Not your priority right now._ he tells himself, before disappearing in a wave of darkness. He arrives back on LOFAT, and the majority of the group is still there. Except Jade and Jane.  
“God damn it.” He mutters, and both Kanayas, Dave and B Karkat turn around. “Where’s Jade? And Jane for that matter?”  
“We’re unsure. They both disappeared when we were paying little attention. I am sorry, I failed at keeping them here.” Kanaya A looks down at her feet and William shakes his head.  
“No, it’s fine. I need to find Jane.”  
“Why?” Dave asks.  
“I need to get her to revive Riana…”  
“What?” Everybody says at once. William takes a breath so he wouldn’t break down into tears again, he hates crying.  
“She, sort of died. Heroically.”  
“How?” Kanaya asks.  
“She kinda, pushed Karkat out of the way, when, um, Ben attacked him.” Karkat flinches at his name, and then realises he meant the older version of him. “We’ve also got another problem. HIC has arrived. By that I mean she’s on LOFAF right now.  
“LOFAF?” Kanaya asks, tilting her head.  
“Land of Frost and Frogs, Jade’s planet.”  
“I see.”  
“But my first priority is finding Jane.”  
“I also have something i must deal with.”  
“Oh?”  
“Finding the Mother grub.”  
“Oh, right yeah.”  
“So what the hell are the rest of us supposed to do while you’s are off doin your thing?” Dave asks, taking a step forwards.  
“Truthfully I don’t care, do as you please.” And without further ado, the two space players head off, Kanaya taking off towards the nearest gate whilst William disappearing in a flash of black. 

He arrives back on LOFAF and yep, just as he suspected, she was there next to the fallen mansion. William cranes his neck towards the sky, the red ship had halted and he could see )(ic standing atop it. He swings his head to the right and can still see the tell-tale signs of grimdarkness. He takes his axe from his sylladex and grasps it tight, he’s quite aware that he’s going to have a fight on his hands attempting to get retrieve the tiara. He transports himself right next to Jane and, without hesitation, reaches for the red band around her forehead. She slaps his hand away with her fork, glaring intensely at him. 

He took the first leap, lunging towards her but receiving a kick to the gut. His knees hit the ground and he takes in a sharp breath, standing back up and using the back of his axe to swing at her, but she simply leans back and thrusts her fork forwards. Luckily William’s reactions were sharp enough to hit the ground, and taking that advantage he swings his leg and snaps her feet out from under her. He jumps to his feet and just as he thought he had her, he’s thrown backwards. He looks up at his captor, and an evil Jade Harley smirks down at him.  
”And what exactly are you trying to accomplish, attacking my accomplice? Hm?” Just as he was about to answer, he notices her other hand was clasped around something red. A hood to be precise. Her short hair had been ruffled from a recent fight, and her eyes were drooped shut.  
“What did you do to Eva?” William asks. Jade lifts her up by her hood, and William could see blood dripping from her nose, and from cuts up her arms. There was blood all over her outfit, and she’d lost a tooth or two. “Why would you do that Jade? What the fuck is _wrong_ with you?!” Of course, that was kind of a stupid question, and she knew, because she threw her head back and laughed. A snarl turned up on his lips as he waves his hand, and disappeared from her grip, reappearing right above her. She whips out her zilly sword thing whatever the hell it is, and counters his axe. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Fuck. Jade stop distracting me, you’re not my priority right now.”  
“ Oh? Well, i guess i’ll just have to make me be your priority, won’t I?” He narrows his eyes and takes off into the air. Jade drops Eva and soon follows, William looking back over his shoulder at her, and nods, taking a sharp left. He holds his foot out as if he was going to sidekick someone, and then disappears. Jade swings around just in time to receive a boot to her face. She stumbles back in the air and William smiles to himself, and takes Jade’s stagger to his advantage. But as he was about to swing the back of his axe, it’s stolen from his hand by Jane’s fork, pinned to the ground below. He looks over at Jane who’s flying up to join them. Jade lunges at him, and he dives down backwards out of the way, but instead of attacking her, he goes for Jane. But she easily catches his wrist as it reached towards her forehead. 

Not moments later he feels a rather painful foot in his back, and then another, and another after another after another. And then just as he was about to disappear into thin air, he’s whacked in the side of the head by a sparkly red shoe. Jane lets go of his wrist, and he begins to plummet towards the ground. He finds himself seeing stars and unable to concentrate properly, thus unable to maintain levitation. He hits the ground with a solid _thud_ and his vision becomes blurred even more so. Soon he finds himself barely able to move at all, and Jade and Jane land down next to him. Jade shoves her foot in his gut, rolling him over and closer to the lake of lava, too close for comfort. Jane’s hand is just a blur to him as it reaches out and grabs him by the hood, lifting him up to her height. And just like that she throws him back, far enough that he can feel the heat radiating under him, he was not even a metre above the lava. 

But not moments before he hit it, he was swooped into the air by what seemed to be a large black bullet, but he soon realised it was only Alec.

Wait.

“Alec?!” Alec’s scornful looking eyes look down at him, and what came out of his mouth was a different language entirely.  
“Asfohua sfjkha ljeq igub, sh’j vdbv sdhbkj vd vdhvdghvhvv ha sh jv.”  
“What?”  
“ **Ljeq igub** ” But then he suddenly stops and lets go of William, but he’d regained enough sense to catch himself. Alec clutches at his hair; much like he does when those voices were speaking to him… he wonders how loud they are now. He knows he shouldn’t leave him there, but he had priorities.  
“I’m sorry.” He says and disappears in a wisp of black. 

He knows he can’t face the two by himself; he’s going to need back up.

friendlySubjugator [FS] began pestering  thunderingHeavens [TH] 

FS: Raine, you there?  
FS: i’m gonna need some help over here.  
FS: hello? you there?  
FS: dammit Raine.

friendlySubjugator [FS] ceased pestering  thunderingHeavens [TH] 

friendlySubjugator [FS] began pestering  darkMage [DM] 

FS: Nic you there?  
DM: That is more probable than not.  
FS: good i need your help.  
DM: No.  
FS: what? Why not?  
DM: I have no reason to. All you four do is cause trouble, and I truly do not wish to be a part of that.  
DM: I never asked for this.  
DM: For this to all happen.  
DM: To enter this game.  
DM: I was wrong to think that this would be the solution.  
DM: I never should have entered this game.  
DM: It was a mistake.  
DM: It was all just a big mistake.

darkMage [DM] ceased pestering  friendlySubjugator [FS] 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey would you look at that I still suck at fight scenes.
> 
> Also I want to know if you guys have figures out what Riana's gonna do with her new found idea come on surely i've given enough hints by now.


	64. 64

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is update

"What the hell is wrong with that guy?" William mutters to himself, but turns back to the task at hand. His head still ached from where Jade kicked him, but he'd have to get over it really soon. He dives down towards his axe, still pinned by Jane's fork, and grabs both weapons. He propels himself towards the sky, captchaloguing Jane's fork so she's not able to retrieve it, and flies straight towards the two antagonists. Jade draws the Cutlass again, a smirk spreading on her face as she raises it in the air. But he angles himself slightly to the left just before he was about to plunge into Jade, and slams into Jane instead. He reaches for the tiara once more, but not moments before he could, Jade rams him with her shoulder. "God FUCK." He yells and regains his balance. "Fuck god dammit Jade." He moans before rolling his eyes, "It seems I'm going to have to deal with you first." He holds his arms out as triangular blankets of what can only be interpreted as 'space' begin to extend from his fingertips, reaching out towards Jade. She raises an eyebrow at him, then laughs.  
"Do you think your dumb Heir powers are anything to compare with _my_ Witch powers, _plus_ the  's own power?"

And as she finishes her sentence, she's engulfed in green flames, which soon turn into an orb around her growing larger by the second.  
"Shit, this can't end well." He shields his eyes from the harsh light, his headache pounding at his skull. He retreats backwards, but the orb is growing faster than he could fly, so he takes in a breath and turns into the space surrounding him, disappearing altogether. After a few moments, the sphere completely disperses leaving Jade smirking and cackling, thinking she'd got him. But he recollects himself just above Jade, and slams his clenched fists down onto her head. She begins to fall, dazed, so he takes his chance to go after Jane, but she's nowhere to be found. "Where the hell did she go?"

//

By this point Karkat had carried Riana's awfully light body far away from the mayhem that was taking place, the tears still spilling down his cheeks. His legs soon bring him to a stop, as he becomes weak in the knees. He rests Riana's body gently against a green, towering tree and looks at his Matesprit. A thin line of blood runs from the corner of her mouth, the same colour as his own. Her eyelids closed over her beautiful blue eyes he loved so much, and her already pale skin which he couldn't bring himself to call alien any more, growing ever paler. And a limp arm rests over her bloody stomach, covering the hole Ben's creature had made.  
 _Ben_. He thinks, clenching his teeth and fists, wiping at his tears. He falls to his knees, he can hear the fluttering of the hummingbirds' wings high above, completely oblivious of him. He reaches towards Riana's other hand, outstretched towards him, and clasps it in his own, her skin had grown quite cold, and he bites at his lip.

"I'm sorry Riana." He whispers softly, squeezing his eyes shut. He clutches her hand to his chest, and then scoops her lifeless body into his arms and never wanting to let go of her. "I'm sorry for everything that you've ever been through." He holds her tighter, wishing that she could hug him back. He drops his head, his shoulders shuddering with every sob. His red tears falling off of his cheeks and onto her pale face. "I'm sorry." He sobs again, he's not sure what he's apologising for anymore. He brushes a stray hair out from in front of her eyes, and that's when he notices a shadow loom over them. He slowly lifts his head to look up at the figure, and she looks down at him in a condescending manner. Her red outfit blows in the breeze and her eyes flicker almost robotically. He holds Riana's body closer, edging away from Jane, "W-what do you want?" He stutters, sniffling. And that's what he remembers what she could do. He softly puts Riana's body on the ground and leaps up at Jane. "You have to heal her!" He cries, desperation in his voice. "Please!"

"She serves no use to her imperious condescension. We do not need her...

" _I_ need her! You have to! Please!" His tears begin falling off of his chin again, his eyes large and desperate. Her own eyes flick from Karkat to Riana back to Karkat and shakes her head. 

"I have no orders to heal her..."

"I don't _care_ if you have fucking orders! Please you have to bring her back!" He scruffs Jane by the hood and shakes her. "Please!" and then his eyes flick up to the tiara on her head. _If she didn't have that thing on, she'd be free to do as she likes..._ His eyebrows furrow and his teeth clench, all she does is look down at him and shakes her head. 

"Let go of me Karkat." He returns the shake of the head, and with one solid shove, she's on the ground and he's grabbed the tiara on her head. Jane's eyes widen, and Karkat tugs the thing off of her head, severing all connections to HIC and releasing Jane from her control. Jane's eyes fade back to normal, along with her outfit and she's left staring up at the treetops, the large red ship just above that. Karkat tears the tiara in two, and tosses it to the ground and it crackles with electricity. 

Karkat stares at her, her eyes wide and horrified and _scared_.  
"I..." She mutters before sitting up and staring at Karkat. "Thank you." But he shakes his head, falling to his knees and he clasps his face in his hands. She looks over at Riana's body and her eyes grow even wider. She clasps her hand over her mouth and stands up, "O-oh dear me..." She stutters, shaking her head. her hand begins to glow at her side. She raises her arm and points it towards Riana, engulfing her in a fit of blue flames. 

//

"What the hell?" I say, my body had begun to tingle, and a strange lifting feeling engulfed me. My skin began to glow, and my eyes widen as i realised what it meant.  
"Callie I promise you I will get that ring to you. I promise!" I shout to her before disappearing in a flash of white. 

I sit up straight away and pat my stomach, no blood no wound no nothing. That's when I notice Jane pointing her arm at me, a non-possessed Jane. A smile would have cracked on my lips if it weren't for the violent sobbing coming from not too far away, and I see Karkat curled up into a ball.  
"Karkat!" I shout and his head snaps up, a look of disbelief washing over his face. I run towards him and he stands up and embraces me, and puts his forehead on my shoulder. I could feel his body shake and shudder, and I smile a sad smile and hug him tighter.  
"Riana, thank god. I... I'm so sorry." he sobs but I shake my head.  
"It's alright, Karkat. Everything will be alright now." And if i could do what i had to next, everything would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phase one complete.


	65. 65

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look I actually updated at a decent time this time.

Raine wakes up with a throbbing in her head, and an immense pain in her gut. She attempts to grasp her wound, but find her hands are restrained by two, cold metal chains. The room around her is pitch black, so she supplies her own light to examine the room. It seems she’s being held in a cell, the walls around her are red and there’s only a simple barred window at the top of a door at the other side of the room. She tugs at the chains holding her hands above her head, and gasps as it jolts the wound at her side. She notices a small camera at the very end of the room, directed exactly in her direction. _So, how the hell am I going to get out of here…_ She thinks to herself, and not mere moments into the thought, an idea snaps into her head. She’d have to use the only weapon she had with her, her own luck and light.

First, she’d have to get rid of the camera, and that was simple enough. She furrows her eyebrows and winces again, before a ball of light forms around the camera, growing brighter and brighter, hotter and hotter, until it malfunctioned altogether. She does the same with the chains around her wrists, closing her eyes and grunting as pressure is put on her side. The chains grow hotter and she puts enough of her luck into it so that they snap right off the wall, and she gasps, clutching her hand to her side. She stumbles to the door, pulling at the handle.

Locked of course.

 _Dammit_. 

She tilts her head to the side, listening. Down the hall outside of the door, sirens were ringing, and she could hear footsteps running towards her. She smiles and dims her light down until the room is pitch black again, and she hovers just above the door, still clutching at her wound. The door flies open and black shelled carapaces march through the door, searching for her, and failing to look up. She quietly flies out the door, closing it behind her and locking it, then taking off down the corridor. She takes a series of turns, keeping to the awfully high roof, and finds her way to where she’d fought the Condesce, keeping out of sight of the carapaces as they all march to her cell. She finds the )(er Imperious Condescension where she left her, her enormous hair billowing behind her, trident held by her side and she still had a menacing look on her face. _Mustn’t have been knocked out that long then._ She dives off the side before she could be noticed, or perhaps she was, either, either. She flew down to where an unfamiliar troll was standing, looking up at the gigantic red ship, and not noticing an unconscious Ben behind her.

“Hm?” She says as she notices Raine behind her. “And who might you be?”  
“That’s none of your business.” Raine says, looking above her in curiosity as a dark dot catches her eye. “What the…” She says before taking off towards it.  
“Where do you think you’re going? Hey! I’m talking to you! Don’t fly away whilst you’re being talked to! That’s extremely rude and intolerable! Get back here…!” Raine ignores the Vriska lookalike troll and continues heading towards the black dot in the sky. It begins to take on a form, a human form, and a familiar one at that. “A-Alec?” She asks, and his head snaps towards her. His eyes had gone hauntingly white, and his skin grey, darker than the trolls’. “A-Alec? Are you okay…?” It was a dumb question, of course he wasn’t okay. 

“Hey!” Raine’s head snaps around as she sees somebody flying towards them, she has similar attire to Raine’s own. “You’re acquaintances with him, aren’t you?” She asks.  
“Yeah, I’m his friend. What’s wrong with him? And who are you?”  
“My name is Rose, and your friend Alec here is enduring a state called grimdarkness. I’ve been attempting to help him, but I know no way of calming him down.” Raine looks back at Alec, and slowly approaches him.  
“Hey, Alec!” She shouts but Rose reaches out a hand and grabs Raine by the shoulder.  
“I wouldn’t approach him if i were you.”  
“Why not? Other than the fact that he’s covered in that weird dark matter stuff.”  
“Precisely.” Raine rolls her eyes and shakes out of Rose’s grip. And she’s suddenly reminded of the wound in her side.  
“Frick.” She says, clutching her wound again.  
“Are you alright?” Rose looks down at her side and gasps. “You need help.”  
“No, I’m good.”  
“No…”  
“No, seriously, I’m fine. I won’t be dying anytime soon. I have too much luck on my side. You know what I mean.” Raine winks, and Rose makes an unconvinced sound but shakes her head.  
“If you insist. Anyway, do you know of anybody who can calm him down?”  
“Well… Riana’s his Moirail, perhaps she can.”  
“Oh. Oh dear.”  
“Why? What’s wrong?”  
“Riana is sort of… unable to help us right now.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Well, she… you’re her friend, aren’t you?”  
“Yeah, I’m her closest… _human_ friend.”  
“Oh… that just makes matters even more horrible.”  
“I still don’t understand what…” Something snaps in her head, and her eyes widen in horror.  
“ _She’s dead_?!”  
“Yes.” Rose looks down, and then at Alec who’s clutching at his head.  
“B-but sh-she’s God Tier… H-how…” She can feel her eyes begin to sting, and a sick feeling begins to settle in her stomach.  
“She died heroically.”  
“Why… How…”  
“She saved Karkat.”  
“From _what_?!”  
“The Bard of Mind.” Raine freezes, her free hand clutches at her side.  
“BEN! How could he?! He promised he wouldn’t do anything like this again! How could he break his promise?! I fucking forgave him! And that’s not going to happen this time.” She clenches her teeth, and turns back to Alec. “I guess that’s what triggered this, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, but Rose nods solemnly.  
“Yes. But, your other friend, William, he’s already taken after the Bard.”  
“WILLIAM WAS THERE TOO?!”  
“Indeed so.”  
“So where is she? Where’s Riana?”  
“Karkat has taken her out of harm’s way.” Raine puts her hand to her forehead.  
“Poor Karkat. Poor, poor Karkat. I don’t know how he’s feeling right now. He must be so, unbelievably sad right now.”  
“Yes, but I think we should return to the matter at hand. We must calm down Alec, this is no normal grimdarkness.”  
“There’s a _normal_?”  
“Yes. I have experienced it first-hand.”  
“Really? No wonder you’re the one trying to help him.”  
“Yes. But we need to find a way to aid your friend here…”

“Yeah. Allow me.” Both the Light players’ head snaps towards the new voice and both gasp as a blue flash dashes past them and slams into Alec.  
“R-Riana? B-But Rose just said you were…”  
“I watched you die in front of my very eyes… and I was certain it was heroic.”  
“Yeah, shush. I’ll explain later.” Riana’s arms had wrapped around Alec, and she was partly engulfed in the black flames as well. “Calm down Alec. It’s alright. I’m not dead anymore shhhhh.” She rubs his back and holds him to her chest. “Shhhhhh. Remember what you said to me. It’ll be okay, you’ll be okay. Shhhh. It’s okay Alec, you don’t need to be sad or angry anymore. Shhh. I’m okay. You can see that, just quieten down. We can get Ben later okay?” She hugs him tight and begins lowering him to the ground, and breeze begins to pick up. 

Raine follows them down, offering Riana her luck, and Alec soon begins to calm down. Riana, with her newly formed skill, begins to free his mind, the breeze growing ever stronger. Raine watches an almost familiar scene, except the roles were reversed. This time it’s Alec’s skin who slowly fades back to normal, his eyes that the glow disappears from. And his expression the anger disappears from. He falls into Riana’s arms as she gently rubs his shoulder and hushes him.  
“Riana… You died…” are the first words that come from his mouth.  
“Yes, but I’m back now.”  
“Yes, care to explain?” Rose says, landing next to Raine. Riana nods and puts Alec’s arm around her shoulder and hers around his waist, standing him up.  
“Karkat managed to snatch the tiara off Jane’s head. She was no longer under HIC’s power, and so she resurrected me. Now, where’s William, I need to tell him that he doesn’t need to hunt Jane down anymore.”  
“Last I saw, he was hunting down your cohort Ben.”  
“So he would. I’ll…” She stops mid-sentence and her ear atop her head twitches. “Raine, take Alec.” She passes Alec to Raine and smiles. “I’ll be back. I know where he is. I can hear him.” She leaps into the air and spins around, taking off in the opposite direction.

//

I heard the clash of sword against axe behind me, and knew where he was. I draw Caledfwlch from my sylladex, diving down just above the lake of lava and then up again. I notice William is looking incredibly fatigued, tired and I knew he wouldn’t be able to go on much more. But Jade, Jade on the other hand was thriving with energy, the Cutlass of Zillywair above her head. He wasn’t going to be able to endure such a thrashing. So it was my turn. I shoot up in front of William just as Jade was swinging her sword down, and I block it with my own.  
“R-Riana?” William stutters.”  
“Just thought I’d drop by.” I smile one of the largest smiles i had in days, and Jade looks at me in disbelief.  
“But… how?” He asks.  
“Jane’s back.” Jade eyes grow wider and wider.  
“No.”  
“More like hell yes.” I push back on the sword. “And don’t worry, Jade, You’ll be joining her soon, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised she wasn't even dead that long.


	66. 66

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow I am so sorry, I haven't updated since December. I just have to say, I haven't forgotten about this, I just haven't found all that much inspiration. It doesn't mean I'm ditching it, i still REALLY want to finish it.
> 
> Also, I have to say, this is gonna be ONE clusterfuck of a session.

Jade glares at me with large green intense eyes, flickering with the flames of the Green Sun. She snarls and then pushes away, disappearing with a flicker of green. I look around to see if she is approaching from behind me, but she was nowhere to be seen. She chickened off, I can’t believe she chickened off. I captchalogue the sword and turn to William, He was only just able to keep himself afloat.  
I take his arm and help him to the ground, and he basically collapses.   
“Will, you alright?” He chuckles a bit before replying with,  
“I should be asking you the same question.” I shake my head and smile, but before I could get anything more out of him, he passes out from exhaustion. 

Not long after I hear pained moaning coming from behind me, my ear twitches to the sound and I quickly turn around.   
“Ugh, my head.”   
“Eva, what are you doing here?” I ask before rushing over to her to help her up.  
“I…” She closes her eyes and scrunches her eyebrows, “I can’t remember.”  
“It’s okay. Do you at least remember what happened?”  
“Um… I think… Jade was chasing me?”  
“What?”  
“Jade… she was chasing me and… I think she caught me?”  
“I see…” I trail off and take her over to where William is laying, and she raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t seem to question. “I’ll be back soon.” I say and take off into the sky. 

I land on the once-mansion of Jade’s where Aranea stands, looking up at the large, red ship, but she notices me almost straight away. I raise an eyebrow when I see Ben lying unconscious on the ground, but I don’t question it. It’s better he’s down anyway, he’ll just be a nuisance. I look back to Arane, and my eyes narrow.  
“Ah, a fellow Sylph, lovely to see somebody who understands…”  
“Shut up Aranea.” She looks a bit taken aback, but shortly returns to her smug self.   
“How rude, I was simply going to address that it was nice to finally have somebody with the same…”  
“I said shut _up_. God, no wonder no one likes you.” She rolls her eyes, and I take a step forwards, holding out my hand. “Give me the ring.” She looks at me for a moment before breaking out in a fit of laughter. But she’s shortly able to stop herself and shakes her head.  
“It’s just not that simple. You see, if I were to take the ring off I would…”  
“You’d die again, that’s the point.” She raises an eyebrow before smiling at me.  
“So you understand that I can’t just give you the ring.”  
“I suppose that means I’ll have to take it from you.”  
“Try as you might, I am telling you now you will never be able to…” I quickly retrieve Caledfwlch from my sylladex and swing at her, but she grabs the blade so swiftly. Cerulean, thick and slow, begins to dribble down her hand, and she smiles a bit wider. I jump away from the sword as she throws it back at me, but I don’t pick it up. Instead, I reach for her wrist, but she leaps away, leaving em grasping at thin air.  
“Give me the damn ring!” I shout and again reach for her, but she simply keeps stepping back. 

My ears flick at the sound of Ben stirring, and my head snaps around to him. He stands up straight, his eyes closed, but a wide smile still on his face. When he opens his eyes, they’re bright, bright fuchsia, and he grabs something from his sylladex. And then I’m right in front of him with my palm on his forehead.  
“I was hoping to save this for Jade, but it seems you’re in need of a li’l healing touch too.” I close my eyes and the wind around us begins to pick up, I could feel Aranea’s eyes staring at the back of my head, it’s a wonder she’s not attacking me. That’s what normal people would do. Miniature whirlwinds begin to form, and they begin to grow.   
“What the hell are you doing?” I hear Ben ask, his voice sounding rather robotic, and he tries to push me away, but I don’t budge. The trees begin to be stripped of their leaves, and they swirl around the sky in another forming hurricane.

And then all at once, it all drops. The wind the leaves, everything. Even Ben falls down to his knees. I look to his wrist and see the watch, and rip it off of his wrist, dropping it on the ground and smash it into pieces with the heel of my foot.   
“There, now that’s settled…” Again, my ear twitches to another sound from behind me, and when I turn around, I see _her_.  
 _Shitshitshitshitshit._  
I take a step back and look at her snarling face. _Damn_ is she tall, she’s taller than my other and mum was really tall.   
“What the _hell_ is this?” HIC asks and I swallow.  
“Uh…” But before I could answer any further she’d whacked me in the face with the side of her trident. I hit the ground with a solid _thud_ and rub the side of my face. “Shit that hurt.” I shake my head and look back up at her, and then something catches my eye. A purple dot in the distance, I could only just see it. But it was getting closer and closer, but I still couldn’t figure out what it was. “What the…” I say and squint.   
Aranea sees my confusion and spins around, but HIC puts her fork to my neck. My eyes flick back to her for a moment before it returns to the dot in the sky.   
“What’d you do to him?” She asks me, and then smacks me in the face again.  
“Shit.” I say and once more rub my face.  
“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” I look up at her, and swallow again.  
“What the _hell_ did you do to him?” I look at Ben who looks incredibly dazed and confused.  
“Healed him.” I say simply. My eyes wander back to the dot. Except it was more than just a dot now, it was starting to take form. It… It looked like a ship? A purple ship… A Dersite ship. It was covered in red and blue, much like Sollux’s psionics. Did Sollux and Aradia hijack a ship? Why would they… wait, no. There are more than two people on it. Well, whoever it was on it, they were steering it right towards the one right above us. I raise an eyebrow as I hear somebody shout something, and then all but one jump off of it, and I gasp as most of them open up wings, whilst the others just hover there.   
“What the…” The Condesce turns around and gasps herself, allowing me to escape and jump off the building. “No!” Just as the last figure jumps off, it crashes right into the mighty red ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so, this fic is going on hiatus until the 'alpha' fic catches up. Which is gonna take a while...


	67. 67

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I was reading this again and decided I couldn't hold it back anymore. So yeah a few spoiler for my other fic and the fantroll fanadventure if anybody was reading that. Also, there's a bit I couldn't be bothered describing, so I whipped up a quick picture woo yeah. 
> 
> So after a long wait, I present to you my screwed up fantrolls yeah go me.
> 
> *EDIT* Okay, so, when I started this, I really had no clue to how the starting of the game works. Now that I'm a lot wiser, I'm gonna go back and change a few things. Mainly at the start where I fucked up a lot. So if you see at the end of a chapter *This Chapter has Been Edited* You now know what has happened.
> 
> *EDIT 2* The quality of this fic has literally plummeted and is now comepletely horrible in my POV... Here I drew you a chart:
> 
>  

Everybody within the vicinity looks up in astonishment as HIC’s ship bursts into flames as the Dersite ship collides into it.  
“Holy shit.” I say, standing up as the figures approach us.  
“My ship!” I hear Condy yell. Then I realise, this is the perfect distraction. I leap towards Aranea, but it’s like she knew I was coming before I even knew. She spun around and smacked me fair in the face.  
“Tsk tsk, you are so rude…” A growl rips from my throat as I stand up again. Once more I lunge at her, but she just holds out her hand and I’m thrown back, as if she has telekinesis or something. I hit the ground with a thud, and rake my fingers on the ground to stop myself from sliding off the edge. I glance up at the figures who have begun to make their way towards us. My focus turns to Ben, who had gathered himself up and he looked like he was on the verge of tears… and not moments later I see a flash of orange swoop past me and right into him.  
“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” Raine yells, who has Ben by the collar of his hood and shaking him. “You are dead Tucker. I swear on my mother’s grave you are DEAD.”  
“Raine, that’s enough. Let him explain- OW!” HIC bashes me over the head again and then looks at Raine.  
“ _You_. First you dare attack me, and then you escape from your cell, and now you’re attacking my puppet. How _dare_ you.” I give Raine a curious look wondering what the hell she was talking about. But before I could think too much about it, the Condesce had already flung her trident at her.  
“Raine!” I shout and go to help, but before I could the Condesce steps on my neck so I can’t move. “Shit!” I shout as I hear a nasty crack. Luckily Raine jumps out of the way, but not only that, she uses Ben as a human shield. “Raine- agh!” Condy presses down harder on my neck. Raine drops Ben to the ground… I can’t believe she just did that… she literally just killed him. He lays on his back with the trident sticking out of his chest, and Condy shouts in anger, leaping off of my neck, grabbing the trident and then leaping right towards Raine. But before I could intervene, two things happen: firstly a throbbing pain strikes through my neck where Condesce dug her foot in, and two, a small, fiery phoenix flew right in between them and exploded in a fit of flames. I covered my face because it was extremely bright, and both the Condesce and Raine flew backwards.  
“What the hell is going on here?” A chirpy voice says from above us. I look up and my eyes widen, there floats a troll with yellow wings, hair that flows to the middle of her back, and an attire that I have never seen before.  
  
"What the hell is going on?"  
“Who… who are you?” I ask slowly.  
“Answer my question furst.”  
“Well… what does it look like we’re doing.”  
“Well, you look like you’re doing shit all,” she points to me, “them two look like their trying to rip each other’s heads off,” To Condy and Raine,” “she’s also doing shit all,” to Aranea, “And he looks dead.” She finally points to Ben.  
“I suppose you could put it that way.” I attempt to stand up again, and end up on my knees.  
“So, are you going to tell me who- "  
“Nertia! Did you, find them?” A rather short troll lands next to her. He has long, curved horns extending from the side of his head, and has a Page of Blood attire on.  
“Some of them.” She replies. “Are the others coming?”  
“Yeah, they’ll, be here any, moment.”  
“Who the _shell_ do you think you are?” Condy barks at them.  
“Oh my cod, did I just hear someone make a fish pun?” A third lands, she’s a Knight of Space with long flowing hair which almost goes down to her thighs. Her horns are rather odd, one curves up and around in a loop, whereas the other is similar, but doesn’t loop. The Condesce stares intently at her, and she waves excitedly back. The rest of the trolls begin to Pile up behind them; There’s a female Witch of Doom, male Mage of Light, male Rogue of Time, male Prince of Void who wears a pair of glasses which run the length of his face, a male Seer of Heart who has two broken horns, a female Maid of Mind, a female Thief of Breath, and finally a female Heir of… Something.  
There were still five figures to come, and these ones were humans, except one… which I couldn’t make out. As they got closer and closer, I begin to slowly stand on my feet and my eyes grow wider and wider.  
“No way.” I say and my jaw slowly drops open. The four humans drop to the ground, and the fifth, which is another alien or something floats above them all, and I just stare at the Witch of Void, and she stares back…

“Mum.” We both say in synchronisation. 

I also see Raine stop what she was doing and walk over to the female Page of Heart, who wears a different outfit to Jake’s. I also hear them whisper ‘mum’ to each other. I see tears well up in the Witch’s eyes; she’s younger than me, by about three years. Then before I know it, her arms are around me, hugging me… and I’m startled for a moment.  
“I-I know you’re not really my mum... but… just let me pretend for a minute, okay?” She looks up at me and says. I nod slightly and smile,  
“I understand, I really do.” And I hug her back. 

A few moments pass, and we’re all startled by Ben coming back to life in a fit of rainbow colours… right he was dead wasn’t he- that sounded so melodramatic . But just as he lands on his feet, he’s pummelled into by Raine.  
“Yoooo, that’s not cool.” The Nertia troll says and takes off after her. I let go of my ancestor, and take a breath.  
“I’m gonna guess that your name is Tina.” I say and she nods, and replies with,  
“And yours Riana?” I nod in reply. Then it just occurs to me, it’s awfully crowded here… and then a second thing occurred to me, Condy’s gone.  
And then I hear Eva’s voice shout from behind us,  
“William!” and within the next moment, William blasts past me and into the Knight of Hope, screaming at him.  
“William what the hell?! I ask.  
“I don’t even fucking care if you’re not him! You’re post-scratch him and that fucking close enough!” He slams his fist into the Knight’s face.  
“The fuck is your problem you piece of- " He’s shouting back at William, but couldn’t finish his sentence because he’s punched again.  
“William, get off him!” I grab his long hood and yank him off of him, then spin him around and give him a smack square in the face.  
“The shell was that all aboat?” The Knight of Space asks, man I really need to learn their names, I can’t just keep calling them their titles.  
“I swear to fucking god, you have fucking problems you piece of shit.” Williams obvious ancestor spits at him.  
“No, _you_ have fucking problems you pathetic, disgusting, waste of space!” They both snarl at each other and I continue to hold William back.  
“Look, I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation- " the Rogue of Life starts to intervene, but is cut off by the Knight  
“Shut up, nobody asked for your opinion, Dale.”  
“Well, gosh I was only trying to help- "  
“Nobody _asked_ for your fucking help.”  
“Mark!” Tina shouts. “Why do you have to be so horrible to everyone?”  
“Seems it runs in the family.” The Page of Heart says.  
“Sara, please.” Tina says.  
“Okay, everybody, just calm down. We can deal with familial issues later. Right now, I believe we have introductions to make.” The Heir of I-Have-No-Idea-What speaks up.  
“Why the fuck should we? This fuckin’ violence is fuckin’ hilarious.” The thief of Breath says with an evil grin on her face.  
“Veekay, Clam it.” The Knight of Space says.  
“Hows about no?”  
“Veekay, I suggest you shut your despicable trap. You have done nothing but cause trouble. You have done nothing but cause trouble. Or I could close it for you. You know entirely well that I am able to.” The Maid of mind speaks up, throwing a glare in Veekay’s direction.  
“What the fuck ever!” The Maid’s eyes narrow and she puts her hand to her head. Something snaps in Veekay’s head and she immediately shuts up.  
“Better.”  
“Thank you, Urania.” The Knight says.  
“Anytime, Miress.”  
“ANYWAY.” The Heir speaks up. “Hello everyone, I am Marina. And in case you are wondering, I am the Heir of Dreams. This is Miress,” She gestures to the Knight, and she gives a small wave. “This is Catona,” The Rogue of time gives a small nod, “This is Urania and Veekay, as you may have already figured out. This is Athalo,” she gestures to the Mage of Light, who stares with a blank face. “This is Hequar and Aphela,” She points to the Seer of Heart and the Witch of Doom, who are glaring at each other, “Ignore them, they are in a kismesitude, so they’ll be bickering for quite some time. This is Darius,” She gestures to the Page of Blood, who smiles widely. “And finally, this is Citron, he… he has a speech impediment, so you,” She shudders a bit “might want Veekay,” She grimaces at her name “to translate. Oh, and the one who flew off with the cape is Nertia, she likes to include herself in everything, that’s why she took off.” Darius gives her a look, but she just shrugs. 

“Although it is a pleasure to meet you all, you are disrupting my plans.” Aranea says. “Either you skedaddle right now, you stand out of my way, or you deal with the consequences. Make your decision now so you waste no more of my time. My plans have already been altered because of this lot,” She points to William and me, “so if you don’t mind deciding that would be excellent.”  
“Aranea shut your fucking mouth.” I say and growl.  
“Excuse me?”  
“You heard me.”  
“You are right, I did hear you. And I suggest that you be the one who shuts their mouth…”  
“Alright, I think it’s time for everybody to start to play nice, don’t you think?” The Alien that is still floating above us all states, clapping her hand together. She’s also God tiered, a Space player. God there are lots of doubles now. “My name is Felius, and I am the creator of the trolls’ universe, if any of you were wondering. Now, your planets are all aligned, I am returning you there. Us Space players, as well as the two Sylphs, will stay here so we can work out our next move, and you two can work out your little feud. Off you go now.” She clicks her fingers, and everybody but William, Miress, Aranea, Felius and I disappear in a flash of white. “Now, are there any other Space players I should know about?” She asks. William and I exchange glances, and before either of us could answer, she answers herself.

“Only the most important one there is.” All our heads snap up, and there’s Jade floating in a mass of green flames.  
“Oh that’s just swell.” Felius says sarcastically.  
“So who the hell are you?”  
“Felius…”  
“Guys help me catch her.” I cut Felius off and lunge at Jade, but she ducks out of the way. “You’re not going to get away from me Jade.”  
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure.” She smirks, then disappears, reappearing behind me, but I swing around and block her fist coming directly at me. I see William focussing on his glasses, which have clouded up and a pesterlog open. By the looks of it, he’s pestering Kanaya. Or Kanayas would be more accurate. He closes it then says,  
“I’ll be back in a moment.” The disappears a wave of darkness. Turning back to Jade, I draw Caledfwlch .  
“Hold on, I’ve got this.” Felius says, snaps her fingers, and Jade disappears in a flash of white, reappearing with her arms held by Felius.  
“That fucking hurt you piece of shit, let me go.” I smile and slowly walk up to her.  
“Thanks.” I say, and begin to raise my arm. She growls at me then disappears in a flash of green, but then reappears exactly back there again. She attempts again, but fails. I smirk at her, then once more raise my arm.  
“Told you you were next, didn’t I?” and the wind begins to build up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mentioned a clusterfuck of a session didn't I? I'm gonna finish a thing I'm making to show you.


	68. Author Note

Alright so, this has really gone on for too long. I'm going to be re-writing this whole thing. I'm sorry but I really have to stop this here, right now, because of the fact that I'm never going to update this. It's more or less been a burden, and I just don't like the storyline anymore. There was a time where I was so motivated to write this... but for the last half a year or so It's just gotten too out of hand and, quite frankly, stupid. 

I haven't given up on it just yet, but like I said, I am re-writing it. The story line will be different, the characters will remain the same, but there will be a whole lot of difference. I am really sorry. I'll be changing a bit of 'You Can't Escape the Void' too, just so it fits. Again, I am sorry. I would have liked to see this through to the end, but this just happens sometimes. So yeah, sorry.

I will post a link to when I start writing again, the first chapter will stay pretty much the same, I will change a bit though. And also, some of their titles will change a bit. 

Once again I am sorry, but this is probably for the best. I won't be deleting this, though. It'll just be discontinued.

Thank you for reading up to this point, and to those who have given me so much encouragement and inspiration, you have my utter most gratitude.

Thank you, and once more, I am sorry.

[Here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2356580/chapters/5200304) is the first chapter of the next one.

**Author's Note:**

> btw i have tumblr account which you can find [here](http://www.the---knightofspace.tumblr.com) in which i may occasionally post some things about this fic. that is all


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